Eastern railway project stalled as community youth attack contractors

The rehabilitation work ongoing on the railway track from Port Harcourt to Makurdi has been temporarily put on hold due to continuous attacks on the contractors by Ishiagu community in Ebonyi as disclosed by a railway official.
Briefing newsmen on the development he had termed a great setback, the Regional District Manager of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Eastern District, Mr Felix Njoku, asserted on Wednesday that the efforts of the contractors currently working on the site have been frustrated as a result of attacks from the villagers.
Njoku said that the community had stopped ESER West Africa, the contractor handling the project from using the quarry site that is within the community, threatening the contractor with all sorts of weapons.
According to him, “The Ishiagu Quarry Site is vested in the Nigeria Railway Corporation by the 1955 Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as Land Use Act of 1978 and now the Laws of the Federation 2007.
“Nobody has contested this position not even the Amaeze community in Ivo Local Government, the land owners, “he said.
He further stated that the contractor who was awarded the contract of the rehabilitation was to begin extraction and crushing of weighty stones for the project, but was stopped by the community who now claim that they own the land.
He further affirmed thus “It was also discovered on enquiry that the host community illegally granted the company permission believing that they were the land owners but they lack such powers, “he said.
He said that the attempt by some of the community members to extort money from the contractor had resulted into the use of force as the youth of the community have been sent after the contractors who are now on the run for their lives.
He disclosed that “ESER has stopped work for some time now because they are not allowed to crush the required stones for their job, thereby altering the 10-month contract which is now entering its second year,“
In his appeal to Ebonyi State Government and security agencies within the area, The Manager had asked the state government to intervene in other to rescue them from the hands of the community so as to complete work on the project as fast as possible.

DailyPost

We will fish out officers who are part of Boko Haram – Police

Police authorities have described as baseless, rumour making the rounds that it has discontinued the massive manhunt placed on the heads of its personnel who bolted after one Ahmed Grema, of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Maiduguri, revealed their membership of Boko Haram.
“No. It is a rumour. We (police) are on top of the situation. The manhunt is still on,” said Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Frank Mbah in a chat with Reporters 365.com.
He asserted that the police has not changed its mind on the massive manhunt it placed on the heads of the affected officers who got wind of their impending arrest and fled before they could be taken into custody.
According to him, the affected policemen can run but the long arm of the law will eventually catch up with them, no matter where they run to.
Mbah called for a closer collaboration between the police and members of the public especially in the area of information flow so that crime and criminality will be curbed in the country.
It will be recalled that in his confessional statement when men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) apprehended him last September, Grema disclosed
that the Boko Haram sect also has other well placed security operatives as members.
It was also gathered that officers and men of the security agencies, who are suspected of having close ties with the Islamic sect, have gone underground since Grema’s confession that he and the others have played active parts in the killing of some senior civil servants, security agents and politicians who oppose the activities of the group.
 DailyPost

Floods reduced oil production by 500,000 bpd in third quarter – DPR

Department of Petroleum Resources yesterday (Tuesday) said that Nigeria’s daily crude oil production for the third quarter of 2012 dipped by 500,000 barrels as a result of production shut-down caused by the ravaging floods in some parts of the country.
The department said the actual crude oil (plus condensate) production of the nation was 2.5 million barrels per day for the period.
The Director, DPR, Mr. Osten Olorunshola, who said this in Lagos on Tuesday at a press conference, said, “Flooding in quarter three led to a total shut down of 0.5 million bpd.”
Some of the companies hit by the flood, he said, were marginal field operator, Sterling Energy, Total Exploration and Producing and Agip, among others.
Olorunshola, however, said the floods were no threats to oil and gas assets in the country in the long-run, as production would gradually pick up as the floods subsided.
According to him, the country’s reserves as at January 1, 2012 were 31.170 billion barrels for oil, 5.018 billion barrels for condensate; 92.6 trillion cubic feet of associated gas and 90.150 tcf for non-associated gas.
A major enhancement to deep water oil production, he said, was achieved when Total’s Usan Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel, with capacity to process 180 million bpd, was inaugurated in April this year.
He said a marginal field player, Niger Delta Petroleum Resources, was currently refining 1,000 barrels of oil per day from its new refinery, which recently came on stream.
Olorunshola said as at Monday this week, oil production had risen to 2.3 million bpd as a result of the decreasing flood level.
“Associated gas flared average was 1.4 billion cubic feet per day, approximately 18 per cent of total gas produced, a reduction of five to seven per cent from the end of 2011 flaring average,” the DPR boss explained.
He said there were renewed shallow offshore leases for Exxon Mobil Joint Venture, adding that the case was similar for Chevron Nigeria, Shell Production Development Company, Total and Dubri Oil, though in progress.
Total declares force majeure
Shell said its Nigerian venture had declared force majeure on exports of the Bonny and Forcados crudes on Friday, citing damage caused by thieves and flooding affecting a third-party supplier it did not identify.
Bonny Light and Forcados are two of Nigeria’s most important oil grades and in October accounted for 427,000 bpd, about a fifth of the country’s total exports of 2.048 million bpd.
On Sept. 30, Shell said its Nigerian unit closed the Bonny pipeline which sends crude to the Bonny terminal and stopped 150,000 bpd of production after oil thieves caused a fire.
Separately, French oil company Total on Tuesday told Reuters it had stopped oil and gas production from its onshore OML 58 block due to flooding. The block, in which Total has a 40 percent stake, normally produces the equivalent of 90,000 bpd of oil.
 BusinessNews

“Go to emergency wards and see what they caused” – Governor Fashola adamant on okada ban

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) was on Tuesday challenged those supporting the unregulated operation of commercial motorcyclist to take a trip to the various hospitals and medical emergency centres to see the havoc wreaked by their activities.
Governor Fashola who spoke on the topic “Freedom from Fear” in relation to Law and Order in Lagos State said they should visit the hospitals and emergency wards and see those who have lost limbs, arms, those who have lost children or those who have become orphans by the recklessness of the okada riders.
Noting that a lot depended on the citizenry in ensuring an orderly society, the Governor said everyone must build a consensus that the idea behind the new traffic law was to ensure the protection of life and assets of every resident of Lagos and their businesses.
Tracing the various well organized public transport systems that had existed in the past like the L.M.T.S and L.S.T.C, he said it should agitate the minds of citizens and members of the Club how the State arrived at its present state in terms of the unbridled operation of commercial motorcyclists.
 DailyPost

Free bus ride, trash bags for Lagosians this Sallah

Ahead of the Muslim Eid-el-Kabir, Sallah celebration, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, LAMATA, management, has concluded plans to provide free bus ride to residents on its Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, franchise on Friday.
Similarly, as part of measures to ensure zero tolerance on waste accumulation, Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, is set to distribute about a million free trash bags for adequate waste collection and effective disposal during the period.
The free bus ride, according to the Managing Director of LAMATA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, will in particular facilitate easy movement of Muslim faithful to different praying centres across the state.
Mobereola, said the free bus service which began in 2008 had helped in reducing congestion and accident on the roads during festive periods, adding that the service would run for 13 hours starting at 7.00a.m. and ends at 10.00p.m.
The First BRT Cooperative, operator of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) will offer free services on Mile 12 – CMS, Mile 12 – Obalende, Ajah to National Stadium, Ajah – Obalende, Mile 12 – National Stadium, Mile 2 – National Stadium, Oshodi – Obalende and Oshodi – National Stadium routes.
On the Bus Franchise Scheme (BFS) corridor, free services will be offered on the Ikotun – Ikeja – Maryland, Iyana Ipaja – Maryland, Ikotun – Iyana Ipaja, Igando – Iyana Ipaja, Igando – Ikeja, and Igando – Maryland routes.
Mobereola reminded road users of the existence of the Lagos Traffic Law and warned against flouting the law under the guise of the public holiday.
Also, Managing Director of LAWMA, Mr. Ola Oresanya, said that the 350 Private Sector Participants, PSPs, operating in the state have been mandated with the task of ensuring that every part of the state is rid of waste during and after the celebration.
Distribution of the bags, which commenced five years ago, will be done through the PSP operators to ensure that refuse is properly bagged and disposed in covered bins.
 DailyPost

Civil servant in Bauchi arraigned for comments on Facebook about Governor Yuguda

The Bauchi state Police Command has arraigned a civil servant Abbas Ahmed before a Chief Magistrate’s Court for allegedly defaming the character of Governor Isa Yuguda Facebook.
Ahmed was alleged to have accused the governor of spending huge public funds on the wedding of his son.
Police prosecutor, Sergeant Rufai Ahmed, told the court that the State Criminal Investigation Department received a request from the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Barrister Almustapha Suleiman, to investigate the case of injurious falsehood and defamation contrary to Section 393, 394 of the Penal Code.
Chief Magistrate Mohammed Kafin Madaki granted the application and remanded the suspect in police custody, and adjourned the suit to tomorrow for further mention.
 DailyPost

Facebook records $59 million loss despite rise in ad revenue

The world’s most popular online social network, Facebook, has posted a loss of $59m despite recording revenues rise of 32 per cent during the third quarter. The company revealed that its income rose to $1.26bn, between July and September 2012.
Despite the revenue boost Facebook’s performance remains below par, following a loss of $157m in the previous quarter. Facebook is still struggling to turn its online dominance into profits. The company shares have lost about 50 per cent since its stock market listing in May.
Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer, Facebook, is happy that more subscribers enjoy more access to the website via mobile. He said 604 million of its 1.01 billion users access its site using a mobile device. “People who use our mobile products are more engaged, and we believe we can increase engagement even further as we continue to introduce new products and improve our platform,” he claimed.
Mobile revenue of $152.6m made up 14 per cent of total advertising sales, which analysts said came in above their expectations.
There is also an upward movement in the area of revenue realisable from advertisement. Revenue from advertising increased 36 per cent to $1.09 billion, between July and September, up from 28 per cent in the second quarter. But revenue from its payments and other businesses increased just 13 per cent to $176 million.
The company had lost more than $40 billion in market value since holding the largest Internet Initial Public Offer on record as investors feared that it would not ramp up mobile-related sales.
 BusinessNews