News
Stop Dangote now, he’s plotting our death – marketers tell FG
Oil marketers under the auspices of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), on Tuesday cried out to the Federal Government and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), urging them to halt the move by Dangote Refinery to distribute petrol and diesel freely to retail outlets and large users across the country.
Reason? They say the move would be a sure way of further throwing more Nigerians into abject poverty by taking away their sources of income, maintaining that the authorities must protect from the big fishes in the nation’s economic ecosystem from swallowing the smaller ones.
Billy Gillis-Harry, PETROAN President, who trumpeted the cries of his members while appearing on The Morning Brief, a breakfast programme on Channels Television told his host on Tuesday: “If one company that is as massive as our brother’s (Aliko Dangote) can do all of this, of course, it is going to take us out of business.”
Dangote, the first private refinery in the whole of Africa and the only functioning one in Nigeria, had said on Sunday, that the $20bn world’s largest single-train facility in Lagos would add free distribution of its products – petrol and diesel to dealers, and other large users across the country.
In a sumptuous package, aimed at further lowering the pump price of the products, the company, revealed that it had already procured 4,000 brand-new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered tankers for the distribution operation from the 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity refinery, on August 15, 2025, in addition to offering a credit window to customers purchasing a minimum of 500,000 litres – allowing them to obtain an additional 500,000 litres on credit for two weeks, under a bank guarantee.
Anxious at the implication, marketers and truck owners rose in protest, insisting that such an expansion move would asphyxiate depot owners, truck operators, and retail outlets who have special deals for the direct delivery of petrol and diesel to large corporations and multinationals.
Gillis-Harry, while regretting the move, insisted that regulators must correctly interpret and enforce the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in this regard to protect the jobs of tanker drivers and owners, arguing: “There are rules for that and I don’t think one company should take the responsibility to interpret and operationalise what the regulators should do. We need the regulators to interpret very efficiently.
“Right now, we are struggling to feed family and get things going and suddenly we are going to be out of business from August. It is going to take us transporters, many retail outlets owners and marketers out of business and that will affect all the jobs that have been created by these operators in this sub-sector.
“We don’t want one strong man but many strong men. We hope that the industry leaders would be able to get everybody together on the same table to address issues so that everybody will be at peace. Yes, it is competition but competition of what size? Is it a competition of one winner takes all? It should be a competition of everybody winning and Nigerians winning on the ultimate term.
“We are not sitting down. PETROAN is also gathering momentum to be able to look for alternatives on how we can source our product for our teeming members. There is a PIA that has been passed and is functioning that rules the industry. Pricing is regulated by Article 207. Licensing also has its procedures and processes.
“Everybody has to have a license to operate in a certain way. So, if you have a license to operate as a refinery, please refine and let those who have licensing and operational permits also do so. Let those who have operational permits and requirements for logistics do so. And those of us who have operational approvals for retail outlets should also do our bits and do it effectively.”
“The suspect offered ₦500 million to the SPU commander in an attempt to make the team stand down and allow him to contact his associates to move the consignment elsewhere. The offer was rejected immediately and properly documented for further investigation.”
These were the exact words of Olohundare Jimoh Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), with which he detailed how operatives of the Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) scoffed at a N500million bribe to turn their eyes off the importation of a huge consignment of drugs imported into the country.
This was part of the details of a major breakthrough by the operatives after bursting a major drug trafficking syndicate in Lagos, which led to the seizure of suspected illicit drugs estimated at ₦7.8 billion and arresting several suspects, including the alleged kingpin.
In the operation, reportedly carried out by officers of the Special Protection Unit (SPU) in collaboration with divisional police detectives, the operatives, were said to have stormed a house in Mende, Maryland area of Lagos, following months of surveillance and intelligence gathering coordinated by the Zone 2 Headquarters.
The recovered drugs consisted of hundreds of bags of suspected Canadian Loud, allegedly stored in the residence of the prime suspect, Jimoh, said disclosing that the suspect was apprehended on May 19 after weeks of strategic monitoring by operatives.
Offering further details, he said the operation was executed with technical support and guidance from the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, alongside coordinated efforts between the SPU and divisional police teams.
Jimoh revealed that during the operation, the suspect allegedly attempted to bribe the SPU commander with ₦500 million to compromise the mission and allow the movement of the drug consignment.
The AIG described the development as a reflection of the renewed professionalism and operational discipline being entrenched in the Force under the current policing strategy.
He noted that the success of the operation underscored the importance of deploying specialized police units alongside conventional divisional teams in tackling organized crime.
According to him, the operation demonstrated the effectiveness of rapid containment strategies, intelligence-led policing, and professional conduct among the operatives involved in the raid.
“Rapid containment was achieved as the Special Protection Unit worked with divisional teams to secure the perimeter and prevent escape or interference with evidence.
“The operation was intelligence-driven, following months of surveillance and technical monitoring before the raid was carried out.
“The immediate rejection and documentation of the bribe attempt also reflect the standard expected from redeployed personnel at the divisional level,” Jimoh added.
Reacting to the development, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, commended the operatives for their professionalism, saying the success of the operation validated the ongoing redeployment of personnel to divisions and units across Lagos and Ogun states.
The IGP noted: “Policing must be close to the people, and our specialized units must work side by side with divisional teams on the ground.
“The professionalism shown by the SPU commander in rejecting a ₦500 million bribe and following due procedure is the standard we expect. It shows that when you put your best foot forward at the grassroots, you get results and restore public trust.”
Disu further assured that the Force leadership would continue to reward integrity while holding officers accountable to the highest ethical standards.
Police authorities said exhibits recovered during the operation have been properly documented and will be tendered in court. The suspects are currently in custody while investigations continue to track down other members of the drug trafficking network.
Slavery is a wound on the memory of the Universal Church, Pope Leo XIV, said on Monday, as he issued a fresh apology over the participation of the the Catholic Church in the centuries-long delay in condemning slavery.
The pontiff stressed the position of the church after his predecessors had offered similar apologies, said: “For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
Writing in a major text that warned about “new forms of slavery” behind the digital economy, the joined John Paul II, who denounced slave trade in 1992 before issuing a sweeping request for forgiveness for historical injustices in 2000 and Pope Francis who also repeatedly denounced contemporary forms of slavery.
In his own vein, Pope Leo, pointed out that the Church owned slaves until the Middle Ages and it also advised European sovereigns on how to justify the enslavement of “infidels.”
He stressed in “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), a document focused primarily on the rise of artificial intelligence, that it was only in the 19th century that “a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery was clearly articulated.”
Hear him: “It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria that matured over time had always been available. Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery. This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached.”
Qowiy Oloyede, a resident of Oriya Sokoto road, Atan Ota, is currently telling operatives of the Ogun State Colice command, the reasons that pushed him into making a video suggesting that a part of the state was under attack of terrorists, knowing same to be fake.
Oloyede, reports say, dragged to the police on May 23 by one Ayinla Sodiq, who accused him of creating and sharing a misleading TikTok video falsely claiming that bandits had invaded the Atan Ota community..
Zagazola Makama, a counterinsurgency publication, which broke the news, said on immediately being questioning by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Oloyed, allegedly confessed to fabricating the video to gain followers on social media.
Apart from admitting that that he created the fake bandit attack content to gain followers and trend online, said in a video currently on social media the herder featured in the clip was a cattle rearer who usually grazed cows behind his shop and had initially refused to participate before eventually agreeing.
Oloyede, who also claimed he could neither read nor write, adding that his apprentice wrote the caption accompanying the video posted online, maintained that he had only produced and posted two similar videos, one on Monday and another on Wednesday.
The command, said to have recovered photographs and video evidence linked to the fake publication during preliminary investigation, added that the suspect would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Abeokuta, for further investigation, warning residents against spreading false information capable of causing panic and public disorder, and for the public to verify information before sharing content on social media.
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