The 15 Nigerians docked for conspiracy and illegal oil bunkering include: Ebizugbe Kennedy, Kalu Emmanuel, Awagbe Peter, Alonte Kehinde, Moloko Joseph, Yinka Ajibade, Ogonoye Adeshina, Anyigi Sunday, Adebayo Micheal, Chukwudi Egwu, Adeyeye Adebowale, Segun Adenuwa, Busari  Adeleke, Odewu  Joseph and Ogundipe Olubokola who is the only female among them.The two Ghanaians are Owusu Kwaku and Joseph Koffi.

The suspects who were arraigned on a two count charge were  denied bail by the trial judge, Justice Marcel Awokulehin who ordered that they be remanded in prison custody till March 9, 2010 when their counsel, Barrister Nelson Otaji would argue their bail application.

He stressed that such industries have resorted to the use of crude oil in powering their plants and machines since they cannot get fuel easily.

The governor said that in the past, bursting of pipelines to steal crude was for export, noting that this has now become very difficult for those who engaged in it as they have now found local market for their illegally-sourced crude.

Grand Prize winner in the just concluded Zain Naira Rain Promo, Amgbare Eyerindidake and Shamel Hanafi, Chief Commercial Officer, Zain Nigeria; during the final prize presentation ceremony held, yesterday, in Ikoyi, Lagos to reward winners in the promo.

Eyerindidake Amgbare, the Grand Prize winner and many other winners in the just concluded Zain Naira Rain Promo, was yesterday presented with their winnings by leading mobile operator at a colourful ceremony in Lagos.

Amgbare, a Civil Servant was rewarded with N10000000 cheque while 34 others received various cash prizes by Zain at the company’s Head Office in Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos

Presenting the prizes, Mr Shamel Hanafi, Chief Commercial Officer, Zain Nigeria, said that the promo was part of Zain’s promise of a wonderful world to its customers. According to him, Zain is proud to touch the lives of all Nigerians especially in this era of the global economic recession.

Hanafi said, “At Zain Nigeria, we keep our words and are glad to fulfil our vows and promises to our valued customers,” adding that  “Zain Nigeria is extremely committed in its quest to extend its brand promise of ‘a wonderful world’ to everyone in this country by looking for opportunities to reward every one of our customers.”

The Zain Naira Rain promo produced 375 Nigerian millionaires during its six-week period, with 368 One million Naira winners emerging in the daily draws, six five million Naira winners emerging in the weekly draws, and one Ten Million Naira Grand prize winner.

Before now, the daily and weekly winners in the Promo were presented with prizes in the various regional locations of Zain during the period of the promo.

The Ten Million Naira winner, Amgbare, a Civil Servant in Delta State, while receiving his prize, expressed profound joy and excitement at his new fortune.

Amgbare, who said he still felt he was dreaming, said that Zain had given him the best New Year’s gift ever. He said that he thought it was a prank call when he first received the call informing him of his winnings, but constant calls from Zain staff and the fact that his account details were not asked for, convinced him that the news was, indeed, genuine.

Tochukwu Moses, a shoe seller who walked away with N5000000,  said that Zain Nigeria has improved his life and given his business a new boost. According to him, “I am so  glad. I urge everyone to buy a Zain line and get connected to endless possibilities and promises of a wonderful world”.

One of the N1000000 winners, Tijani Kabiru, said that he is glad to be one of the winners and never dreamt that he could ever become a millionaire in so little a time. He said that he would use his prize money to settle down, get a land in his village in Kebbi state and establish a profitable business.

Dada Adewale Akeem, a Baker with a small scale company, another N1000000 winner, was sceptical about his winnings up till the morning of the event before leaving his house. An almost dumbfounded Dada said that he was overjoyed and would use his earnings to develop himself and set up his own business.

Marketing Director, Zain Nigeria, Moustafa Younes, while congratulating the winners, said that it is a delight to reward Nigerians just as he thanked all the winners for their Loyalty to the company.

According to Younes, the Zain Naira Rain Promo was designed for a particular purpose: to delight and reward Nigerians for their loyalty as well as empower customers to fulfill their dreams.

The Zain Naira Rain promo was launched on the 23rd of November, 2009 and ended 7th January, 2010.

The governor added that all indigenes of the state living in Jos would be evacuated before Sunday.

The development came just as the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, directed relevant departments to take care of state indigenes evacuated from Jos.

This comes as the state government’s delegation, led by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, paid a condolence visit to the family.

Vanguard authoritatively gathered that the man, Mr. Solomon Tonfawei, was the only son of the father and bore eight children.

He was allegedly shot dead alongside another Ijaw youth and an Itsekiri youth by soldiers deployed at the company’s site, following a minor misunderstanding between the management and the workers.

Workers at the project site told Vanguard that nobody was allowed by the law to shoot any gun at the project site, adding that they were just returning to their closed camp resident after work when the misunderstanding occurred.

Associated Press (AP) however quoted a Delta State Government spokesman, Mr. Linus Chima, as saying that normalcy had been restored at the plant.

Chima said local government officials had begun to investigate the cause of the violence that started on Monday afternoon and continued through Tuesday.

“It was a minor disagreement that got out of hand,” he said.
On Monday, he said, a convoy of 15 buses began to travel around the plant, stopping at several security checkpoints inside the compound.

One bus however failed to stop at a checkpoint and the driver got into an argument with security guards at the plant’s main gate, he said.

According to him, a group of Nigerian soldiers detailed to guard the plant arrived at the same time and fired shots at the crowd “to try to get them to disperse”.
He confirmed that soldiers shot and killed two Nigerian workers.

Workers responded by burning buildings and fighting with soldiers until the situation was brought under control by local officials, AP reported.

His words: “I sincerely welcome the suit filed by Mr Femi Falana against the Attorney General of Nigeria before a High Court in Abuja seeking a declaration that President Yar Adua should hand over to the Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan during his temporary absence in line with section 145 of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution.

“But whereas, I fully identify with this patriotic step taken by the plaintiff, Mr Femi Falana, to seek legal interpretation on this issue, I, however, wish to express serious concern about the suit, as it affects my fundamental human rights as a citizen of Nigeria who hails from a numerically disadvantaged geo-political zone (South-South) of Nigeria and guaranteed by provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

Speaking in a telephone interview with The Nation, Tompolo said he had no reason to issue threats, as alleged, when he has “direct contact with President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua” with whom he could have easily laid his complaints.

Rather, he told our correspondent that the report was fabricated to give him a bad name and dent his image, stressing that his company “was not among the companies that bid for the project in the first place.”

Nigerian Tribune learnt that the girl was on her way to school around 7.30 a.m when gunmen blocked the Honda CRV jeep, with registration number AG 165 LEH, conveying her and her niece, Cecilia Ogaga.

The mother of the girl, Mrs. Rachel Egukawhore, said an unidentified man claiming to be looking for her father initially waved down the jeep, only for the vehicle to be blocked with an Honda car.

“Immediately, they moved the girls, including my daughter and the driver. When we were alerted, we mobilised and distributed ourselves in pursuit of the kidnappers. Somewhere around the dreaded Otokutu bridge, my younger brother sighted my daughter with a man taking her to where they will put her in a boat and head for their hideouts,” she said.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that immediately the girl was sighted, the younger brother of her mother alerted a police patrol team that effected the arrest of the suspected kidnapper.

It was learnt that on getting to Ovwian Divisional Police Station, the suspect confessed and led detectives to their hideouts where three more suspects were arrested.

The JTF also recovered over 2,000 drums of illegally refined petroleum products and 16 fuel tankers loaded with refined products worth millions of naira and 10 other assorted cars and buses used for the illegal operations.

Sector I Commander, Colonel Jamil Sarham, who made these disclosures in Warri, yesterday, said the new trend of operating illegal refineries was as a result of the inability of oil thieves to move stolen products through the waterways to the high seas due to effective blockade mounted by the agency on the waterways.