This handout photograph taken and released by the National Police of Ukraine on January 18, 2025, shows a building destroyed as a result of a rocket attack in Zaporizhzhia, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo Credit: Handout/National Police of Ukraine/AFP
Thousands of people in central Ukraine were left without electricity on Tuesday following a countrywide Russian attack involving more than 130 drones that damaged critical infrastructure.
Kyiv and Moscow have recently escalated cross-border drone and missile attacks despite a US-led proposal for a 30-day ceasefire to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, which the Kremlin claims as part of Russia, said around 3,000 people were cut off from the grid following the attack, which he said damaged critical infrastructure.
The governor of the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region, on which Russian forces have been closing in, said the barrage resulted in a fire at another critical infrastructure facility.
In Kyiv, authorities said the debris from a downed Russian drone landed in the courtyard of a school at the beginning of the school day. Pupils were in shelters at the time of the attack, they added.
The Ukrainian air force said it had downed 63 out of 137 Russian drones.
Russia’s defence ministry meanwhile said that 46 Ukrainian drones used in overnight attacks had been neutralised.
The strikes, which targeted several regions of Russia, wounded six people, according to local authorities.
The attacks came shortly before Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump were due to hold talks on a potential ceasefire to the fighting in Ukraine.
Russia’s forces occupy swathes of its neighbour’s territory.
The 46 Ukrainian drones were “destroyed or intercepted” over the regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk near the Ukraine border, as well as over Orlov, the ministry said.
In the city of Belgorod, a man was seriously wounded by falling drone debris, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Five people were wounded in Kursk when drones struck near a truck transporting bread, interim governor Alexander Khinstein posted on Telegram.
The Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo, has said the call for the release of the Indigenous People of Biafra leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has no connection to insecurity in the South-East.
Speaking on Monday during a media chat to mark his third year in office, Soludo, who has been advocating for Kanu’s release, stated that the issue should be viewed separately from security concerns in the region.
Soludo said, “The release of Nnamdi Kanu for me is different from the issue of security, I separate the two, I don’t link the two.”
According to Soludo, his call for Kanu’s freedom is based on the need for broader discussions about the future of the Igbo people, while insecurity in the region stems from criminal activities.
“Nnamdi Kanu for me is for us to have a conversation of a long-term future for the Igbos and that is a different conversation.
“For the criminals who are kidnappers, we have given them olive branch, come out, we will train you, we will empower you, we will rehabilitate you, if you don’t we take you out,” the governor added.
He also accused Simon Ekpa, a self-proclaimed IPOB leader, of hijacking the situation and turning it into a “killing spree.”
“A whole lot of this Simon Ekpa and some of this his band of criminals took over and turned the things into a killing spree, just killing people with reckless abandon,” he said.
Simon Ekpa, who claimed to have succeeded Nnamdi Kanu as IPOB leader, was arrested in Finland last November by local police on charges of inciting terrorism.
Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State Services since 2021 following his arrest in Kenya by the Nigerian government.
Many have argued that his release could help curb insecurity in the region.
A fire outbreak has destroyed properties worth millions of naira at the popular rice mill market in Wurukum, near the River Benue bridge in Makurdi.
The fire broke out in the early hours of Monday.
Firefighters arrived quickly and were able to stop the fire from spreading to other shops.
However, several shops were affected, with processed and unprocessed rice, milling machines, and other goods completely burnt.
One of the victims, Mercy Hanmaikyur, said she opened her shop in December and 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 shared his loss. He said the fire happened at a time when no one could save anything from his shop.
“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,” Jeremiah said.
The 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.
Igyar added that he had spoken to 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, saying their shops were not connected to any power supply.
The victims have appealed to Governor Hyacinth Alia for assistance to help them recover from the loss.
Nigeria’s inflation rate eased for the second consecutive month in February, raising hopes that price pressures may have peaked and could continue to moderate in the coming months.
The National Bureau of Statistics, in its latest report released on Monday, said the country’s headline inflation rate dropped to 23.18 per cent in February 2025 from 24.48 per cent recorded in January, reflecting a 1.30 per cent decrease within the month.
On a year-on-year basis, the inflation rate dropped by 8.52 percentage points from 31.70 per cent recorded in February 2024.
The NBS noted that while the inflation figures were calculated using a different base year, the decline suggests a significant slowdown in price increases compared to the same period last year.
The month-on-month inflation rate for February stood at 2.04 per cent, indicating the rate at which prices increased within the month.
The NBS noted, “In February 2025, the Headline inflation rate eased to 23.18% relative to the January 2025 headline inflation rate of 24.48 per cent.
“Looking at the movement, the February 2025 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.30 per cent compared to the January 2025 Headline inflation rate.
“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 8.52 per cent lower than the rate recorded in February 2024 (31.70 per cent). This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) decreased in February 2025 compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., February 2024), though with a different base year, November 2009 = 100.
“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in February 2025 stood at 2.04 per cent.”
While prices are still rising, the slowdown suggests a gradual easing of inflationary pressures in the economy.
The drop in inflation comes amid efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria to rein in price surges through monetary tightening and forex stabilisation policies.
Rising costs of goods and services, driven by currency depreciation, high transportation costs, and supply chain disruptions, had pushed inflation to record highs in 2024.
A newly surfaced CCTV video has captured the moment military officers stormed the Ikeja Electric office, forcefully entering the premises and assaulting staff members.
The footage, which went viral on X on Monday, shows armed officers kicking down doors and barging into offices. Shared by Arise TV journalist Oseni Rufai, the video show the officers, dressed in full military gear and wielding whips, entering without authorisation. A female employee was seen fleeing towards the stairs in fear.
This incident follows an earlier report on March 6 detailing how armed military personnel invaded Ikeja Electric.
According to Ikeja Electric, the invasion happened after the company disconnected a military office over an unpaid electricity bill of N4 billion.
Nigerian music superstar, Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, has made history as the first African artiste to feature on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
Rolling Stone is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture.
According to Rolling Stone, the Afrobeats sensation known for breaking boundaries on the global stage is the Cover Star for the April edition of the prestigious magazine.
Mavin Records lauded the uncommon feat with a post on its official Instagram page.
“Rave Lordé Rema the Afrobeats Visionary, makes history as @Rollingstone USA First African Cover Star!” the record label wrote.
Following the recognition, the ‘Heis’ crooner thrilled audiences with an electrifying performance at the Rolling Stone concert, performing some of his hit songs, including ‘Dumebi’, ‘Woman’ and ‘Calm Down’.
This milestone has further cemented Rema’s place as a trailblazer for African music, as this feat is coming shortly after he was highlighted on the cover of Dazed Magazine, another major international platform.
Rema, born in 2000 in Benin City, came to the limelight in 2019 after signing with Mavin Records.
His rising profile has continued to highlight Afrobeats on the global stage, as his hit song “Calm Down” featuring Selena Gomez became the most streamed Afrobeats track in history, earning him multiple platinum certifications.
The song also broke records as the first African-led track to surpass a billion on Spotify streams, dominating international charts.
‘Calm Down’ became the number one hit on the world’s first regional streaming chart and first-ever official chart in the Middle East and North Africa, earning Rema a Guinness World Record.
Among other global showcases, Rema has also made history as the first African artiste to perform at the prestigious Ballon d’Or ceremony, when he thrilled the audience at the 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris, France.
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has noted the comments made by the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Mr. Festus Osifo, during the union’s recent protest at the headquarters of Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company (SEEPCO), at Victoria Island, Lagos, over alleged anti-labour practices and expatriate abuses by the company.
NCDMB commends the PENGASSAN leader for acknowledging that qualified Nigerian personnel are occupying top leadership and technical positions in most international and indigenous operating oil and gas companies, and are performing creditably in those roles. He noted rightly that Nigerians are executing complex functions in the floating production and storage and offloading (FPSO) platforms like Bonga, Agbami, USAN, AKPO, Egina, etc. Indeed, Nigerian oil and gas workers performed almost all operations in the oil and gas industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and kept the industry afloat, after most expatriates returned to their home countries.
These feats were accomplished through NCDMB’s strategic implementation and enforcement of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010, particularly the Expatriate Quota, Succession Plan and Deployment of Expatriates Guidelines and Expatriate Work Temporary Work Permit Guidelines. The successes were also enabled by the several Nigerian Content capacity building interventions that prepared and placed qualified Nigerians in key positions in the oil and gas industry. Through enforcement and compliance oversight, the Board ensured that 609 technical positions were nigerianised for the period 2020-2024
We are delighted that PENGASSAN served as a whistle blower over the alleged expatriate quota abuse by the management of Sterling Oil, and we assure the union and the general public that we would investigate the matter exhaustively and take necessary actions.
We can confirm that NCDMB had sanctioned SEEPCO a few years ago for gross violations of the NOGICD Act. Recently, we have been engaging the company for the same reasons. Our regulatory engagements with the firm are outlined below:
1. In 2017, the NCDMB identified five expatriates deployed by SEEPCO without obtaining the relevant NCDMB approvals. As a result, NCDMB penalized the company for this non-compliant deployment of expatriates. To remediate this, SEEPCO trained five Nigerians in Marine Engineering and Subsurface Drilling Engineering for nine months.
2. In 2018, NCDMB identified 402 expatriates deployed by SEEPCO without approval. Additionally, NCDMB discovered projects, contracts, and purchase orders from multiple projects that were awarded and executed without appropriate approvals. NCDMB penalized SEEPCO for these infractions and directed SEEPCO and its affiliates to take the following actions:
• Disengage the 402 expatriates and provide evidence of their disengagement and exit to the Board.
• Commence and comply with the NCDMB Expatriate Quota application process.
• Comply with the Board’s requirements for tendering and awarding projects, contracts, and purchase orders.
• Complete the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) reconciliation exercise and pay outstanding remittances.
• Submit up-to-date statutory reports on Nigerian Content and comply with the review process.
• Train and employ 40 Nigerians as part of the remediation/penalty.
3. Regrettably SEEPCO ignored those directives until the Board commenced legal proceedings against the firm, in line with section 68 of the NOGICD Act.
4. In 2020, SEEPCO sought an out-of-court settlement and committed to addressing the compliance issues and undertaking the remediation. SEEPCO completed the training of 40 Nigerians in 2022, but the employment commitment was not achieved. Additionally, SEEPCO made only partial NCDF remittances.
5. SEEPCO has refused to respond and comply with other Nigerian Content requirements.
6. In 2023, SEEPCO obtained Expatriate Quota approval from the Board for three positions.
7. From our records SEEPCO has been granted only seven expatiate positions between 2017 to 2023.
8. The Board has requested for statutory submissions from SEEPCo and scheduled performance review session for March 2025.
Conclusion
NCDMB Expatriate Quota approvals and compliance and enforcement is applicable to only companies with investments or executing projects in the oil and gas industry. Non-oil and gas Expatriate Quota utilization does not come to the Board, but rather directly to the Ministry of Interior.
NCDMB is committed to the effective implementation and enforcement of the NOGICD Act in the oil and gas sector, with a view to creating employment opportunities for Nigerians, deepening Nigerian Content and boosting the economy.
The Board will not fail to sanction firms that flagrantly flout provisions of the NOGICD Act. The Board welcomes collaboration of stakeholders, including oil unions towards achieving the intendments of the NOGICD Act.
Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, the 2023 Lagos State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has announced his return to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Adediran, along with his supporters, announced this on Monday, at a media briefing held at Liberty Place, Adeniyi Jones Street, Ikeja, Lagos.
This comes after a closed-door meeting between Jandor and President Bola Tinubu in Aso Rock, Abuja, last week where undisclosed matters were discussed.
Before meeting Tinubu, Jandor also held talks with several political leaders, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former military President Ibrahim Babangida, former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and 2023 SDP Presidential Candidate, Adewole Adebayo.
Jandor previously resigned from the PDP, citing indiscipline and anti-party activities, betrayal by the party leadership on the eve of the Lagos governorship election and false claims of an alliance that misled PDP supporters into voting for another candidate.
The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered Oba Otudeko to take a plea in the charges filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The order was given by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke on Monday.
Recall that EFCC had filed a 13-count charge against Otudeko and three others over an alleged N30 billion loan fraud.
At the hearing of the matter, the judge said Otudeko must take his plea before an application challenging the court’s jurisdiction on the case can be decided.
The judge subsequently adjourned the case to May 8.
Human rights activist and presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Omoyele Sowore, has thrown his support behind Ushie Rita Uguamaye, also known as Raye, the National Youth Service Corps member facing backlash over her viral video criticising President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Sowore, in a video shared on X on Monday, revealed that he had met with Uguamaye in Lagos and would be accompanying her to the NYSC Local Government Inspector’s office alongside a team of attorneys.
“The journey with youth Corper, Ushie Rita Uguamaye, has commenced in Lagos.
“She is scheduled to appear before the LGI (Local Government Inspector) today and we will escort her to their offices. We are all en route with attorneys,” Sowore captioned the video.
The corps member had recently gone viral after posting a video on TikTok where she lamented the country’s worsening economic conditions and openly criticised Tinubu’s leadership.
She later alleged that she had received threats over her comments, sparking widespread debate on free speech and political dissent in Nigeria.
She also shared a screenshot of an invitation from the NYSC, summoning her to appear before the LGI office at Eti Osa 3 on Monday at 10:00 a.m
Sowore’s involvement has further amplified the situation, drawing more attention to Uguamaye’s case and the potential repercussions she may face from the NYSC or other authorities.
As of now, there has been no official statement from the NYSC regarding the matter.
