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Tinubu wants ECOWAS to declare mineral theft a global crime
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to designate the theft of resources, such as unauthorized mining and the smuggling of minerals, as global offenses, highlighting their risks to regional stability, safety, and progress.
At the opening of the 7th Annual General Assembly of the Network of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA) at the ECOWAS headquarters in Abuja, Tinubu, speaking through Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, pointed out that the increasing loss of mineral wealth is aggravating insecurity and stunting economic advancement.
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“Illicit outflows remain a major challenge. The stealing of mineral resources is on the rise across the region, contributing to the proliferation of small arms, kidnapping, banditry, and other violent crimes,” Tinubu said. “These have worsened our security challenges and hindered the region’s development prospects.”
He called on ECOWAS to lead efforts in rallying worldwide backing to outlaw and fight the trafficking of illicitly obtained minerals.
“The time has come for ECOWAS to galvanise the world against trade in stolen minerals from West Africa,” the President added.
The meeting, focused on “A United ECOWAS Against Corruption: Strengthening Regional Collaboration for Asset Recovery and Exchange of Information,” gathered leaders from anti-corruption bodies, ECOWAS representatives, international partners, and community groups.
Tinubu also discussed Nigeria’s work on recovering assets, stating that his government has emphasized openness and responsibility via updated regulations.
“Our commitment is to ensure that recovered stolen assets become enablers of growth and instruments of social inclusion,” he said. “Two flagship programmes of my administration — the Students Loan Scheme and the Consumer Credit Scheme — have commenced operations with N100 billion injected from recovered proceeds of crime by the EFCC.”
Ola Olukoyede, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and NACIWA President, reiterated the organization’s focus on boosting cross-border cooperation against corruption.
He mentioned key achievements, including official recognition from ECOWAS, observer status with the GlobE Network, and the creation of a permanent office in Nigeria.
“Political transitions, security concerns, and governance challenges across member states remind us that our fight against corruption is inseparable from broader efforts to strengthen political stability and social justice,” Olukoyede said.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), and Senator Emmanuel Udende, who leads the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption, praised the EFCC’s direction and advocated for stronger joint efforts among countries to address corruption and financial misconduct.
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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