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PIA Inadequate in Addressing Challenges of Niger Delta Region, Says Group
PIA Inadequate in Addressing Challenges of Niger Delta Region, Says Group
By: Michael Mike
The Petroleum Industry Act (2021) has been observed as inadequate in providing solutions to the ecological and environmental challenges of the Niger Delta region.
This was observed by stakeholders at the Third Niger Delta Socio-Ecological Alternatives Convergence (NDAC), organised by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Abuja on Wednesday.
Highlighting the recent approved Niger Delta alternative manifesto for socio ecological justice, Mr. Ken Henshaw noted that while oil has been extracted from the region for over 64 years, the people in the area have been subjected to poverty, less developed and remained more unsecured.
He said the communities in the area that have borne the brunt of oil extraction and Nigeria’s oil economy for over six decades deserve urgent and immediate attention.
He however regretted that they are made to pay for offences not committed just to deny them the right of benefit from the 3 percent as provided by PIA.
Henshaw, who is the Executive Director, We The People, said: “We noted that the PIA is inadequate in addressing the challenges of our region. In parywe not the provisions on community responsibility for protecting oil infrastructures which effectively criminalises our people, provisions on gas flaring which effectively permits the practice, provisions on establishing the host communities funds which gives primacy to oil companies and fails to capture the interest and concerns of our communities”.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Director of HOMEF, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, noted that the Niger Delta is an undeniable sacrificial zone whose degraded situation must be realigned for the wellbeing of the people and the environment.
He decried that the region has been placed on a bloody slab and visited with unrelenting abuse by the forces of extractivism, internal colonialism and dispossession, stressing that “It has been recklessly exploited right from the time of slavery to the time of colonial monopolies and current realities where it is raped for the sake of keeping a waning petroleum civilization on life support”.
Bassey explained that the programme does not only highlight the huge socio-ecological challenges of the region but also proposes very clear pathways out of the quagmire.
He said “the convergence notes the extreme negative impacts of oil and gas exploitation in the region as well as the massive deforestation and diverse erosion of both the land and the coastlines.
“We note that while the region is made up of a complex ecosystem of streams, rivers, creeks and the sea, potable water is a rarity due to incessant oil spills and the dumping of hazardous industrial wastes into both surface and ground water”.
Speaking further, the HOMEF Executive Director stated that the manifesto foregrounded the struggle against the reckless pattern of crooked divestment schemed and allegedly promoted by the international oil companies (IOCs).
He said: “The plans by the international oil companies to sell off their onshore fields to domestic oil companies and either leave Nigeria or move into deep offshore locations has been roundly condemned as a ploy to escape responsibility and accountability for close to 70 years of unbelievably horrendous pollution of the territory through oil spills, hazardous produced water, toxic wastes and gas flaring”.
He however, urged the National Assembly to act on the matter of existential consequences for the people and the territory, saying that the communities cannot afford to be left stranded in the toxic brew bequeathed to them by the oil companies.
The stakeholders also called for the remediation and restoration of all impacted territories and for payment of reparations for the damage suffered in past years.
According to Bassey, “We should point out here that even the first oil wells drilled, exploited from the 1950s and abandoned in the 1970s, are still polluting the environment because there has not been a proper abandonment and decommissioning process”.
Chairman of the convergence, King Bubaraye Dakolo, noted the need for collective voices for changes in the region. He said “We must have our environment restored. The country has benefited hugely from the resources gotten from the Niger Delta but the region have not felt the positive of the benefits of the natural resources.”
He described the PIA as an anti-people law brought against the Niger Deltans. “A law that criminalises the host producing communities, we are going to ensure the right thing is done, they should clean and restore the environment before divesting”, Dakolo added.
PIA Inadequate in Addressing Challenges of Niger Delta Region, Says Group
Navy officer, family abducted in Kachia
By: Zagazola Makama
Armed bandits have abducted a naval officer and members of his family in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Zagazola learnt that the incident occurred on Aug. 20, 2025, at about 0200hrs, when the gunmen stormed Unguwan Mission, Kachia, and whisked away Seaman Olatunji Enoch, 40, of the Nigerian Navy attached to NNSAT Kachia.
The assailants also took away his wife, Margaret Olatunji, 25, and their daughter, Hellen Bitrus, 13, during the attack.
Security agencies have since launched a manhunt for the perpetrators, with cordon-and-search operations ongoing in surrounding bushes. The operation aims to ensure the safe rescue of the victims without harm.
Navy officer, family abducted in Kachia
News
International Police Academy – UNIPOL Appoints Joseph Icha, as Director International Counter Narcotics Training Nigeria Section
International Police Academy – UNIPOL Appoints Joseph Icha, as Director International Counter Narcotics Training Nigeria Section
By: Bodunrin Kayode
The international Police Academy (UNIPOL) has Appointed Deputy Commander General (DCG) Joseph Icha,
Director Training and Manpower Development, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as Director International Counter Narcotics Training Nigeria Section.
A statement from the academy’s management stated that “the academy proudly announces the appointment of
DCG Joseph Icha, Director Training and Manpower Development, NDLEA as Director International Counter Narcotics Training Nigeria Section.
“This appointment recognizes
DCG Joseph Icha, Director Training and Manpower Development, NDLEA. exceptional contributions to national security, law enforcement leadership, and international cooperation.”
Icha has served the Agency in various Senior Management capacities as Principal Staff Officer, Assistant State Commander, Assistant Director, State Commander, and Deputy Director among others, with commendations.
The new international counter narcotics boss has attended several law enforcement courses on Drug Supply Suppression and Drug Demand Reduction within and outside the country.
“He is a Master Trainer with the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime (UNODC) in Drug Law Enforcement intelligence led investigation strategies and Criminal Intelligence. ” said the statement.
Joseph Icha has facilitated training programmes on behalf of UNODC to various law enforcement agencies in the country.
DCG Joseph Icha is a Law Enforcement Operative, mentor, curriculum designer, and advisor per excellence.
He is also a member of several international professional Organizations and currently is the Director Training and Manpower Development of NDLEA.
This important appointment was pronounced under the leadership of Dr. Alexander Jan M (Hany El Zahar), Executive Director, Founder, and CEO of the International Police Academy – UNIPOL, and IPA President (Rtd.) Senior Superintendent of Police Shuaib Adam HSC OLY VJ, International Director of Law Enforcement, Police, and Military, with the support of Prof. Yuval Binstoc (IPA) and Sir Junustia Brecen.
International Police Academy – UNIPOL Appoints Joseph Icha, as Director International Counter Narcotics Training Nigeria Section
Plateau State Complied with the deadline for 2024 Audited financial Reports…. Manset
By: Bodunrin Kayode
Plateau State Accountant General Naanret Manset has said that it was not true that Plateau state has refused to comply with the deadline given to states for the submission of 2024 audited financial statements.
Reacting to a report published recently, the accountant general in a statement noted that “the attention of the Office of the Accountant-General of Plateau State has been drawn to a publication by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) titled ‘It’s Past Deadline, 5 States Fail to Publish 2024 Financial Statements’, which wrongly lists Plateau State as one of the defaulters.”
Naanret Manset maintained that “For the record, Plateau State fully complied with all statutory timelines for the preparation, audit, and publication of its 2024 audited financial statements
“Submitted same to the Auditor-General in May, 2025 which is within the stipulated period of 6 months.
“Audit completed in June, 2025 and forwarded to the House of Assembly which is also within the stipulated period of 3 months.
“Approved by the House of Assembly
Published online on 27 July 2025, below the legal timeline of 9 months.
The audited report is publicly available here:
“We urge FIJ to promptly correct their publication and remove Plateau State from the list of non-compliant states.
Plateau State remains committed to transparency, accountability, and timely financial reporting.” It noted.
The FIJ had recently published that six Nigerian states are yet to publish their audited financial statements for the 2024 fiscal year.
It revealed that five of such erring states have already past their statutorily implied deadlines which Plateau is saying is not true as it applies to them.
The publication had said that ” erring states are Akwa Ibom, Kaduna, Ogun, Oyo, Plateau and Rivers.
“In Akwa Ibom’s case, its amended 2021 audit law gives the auditor general up to nine months to publish the report online after submitting it to the House of Assembly.
“The Accountant General has six months to present the books, followed by a 90-day audit and submission period.
” In the other five states, audit laws differ in the year they were enacted or updated, but the process is similar.
“The Accountant General must submit the financial documents to the audit office within three months after the financial year ends.
” The Auditor General is then required to audit the report, send it to the House of Assembly and publish it immediately.
“The Ogun State Audit Law (2021), Rivers State Audit Law (2021, as amended), Akwa Ibom State Audit Law (2021), Oyo State Audit Commission Law (2021) and Plateau State Audit Law (2021) all set out these requirements.
” In Rivers, however, publishing the audit is left to the discretion of the Auditor General.
“In past years, these states have published their audits between June and August. Some have also been ranked among the lowest in transparency.
” The CJID Openness Index, released in July 2024, placed all six in the bottom tier along with 10 others.”
Recently, FIJ reported Akwa Ibom’s repeated disregard for budgetary transparency despite binding provisions in its Fiscal Responsibility Law.
The FIJ report maintained that two states Yobe and Ekiti, scored above average for transparency and accountability in 2024, with 73 per cent and 54 per cent, according to the Sub national Audit Efficacy Index, published by the Paradigm Leadership Initiative.
The report noted that the annual assessment, which measures financial transparency and policy adoption across Nigeria’s state governments, shows a familiar trend: “stagnation or decline.”
Plateau State Complied with the deadline for 2024 Audited financial Reports…. Manset
Navy officer, family abducted in Kachia
International Police Academy – UNIPOL Appoints Joseph Icha, as Director International Counter Narcotics Training Nigeria Section
Plateau State Complied with the deadline for 2024 Audited financial Reports…. Manset
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