Ondo State Security Network (Amotekun Corps),has busted a human trafficking syndicate dealing in fleecing unsuspected Nigerians through fake job opportunities in neighbouring countries .
The Corps arrested two among members of the syndicate, Pitti Omolade and Ogunbayo Ayorinde, who were based in Ondo State when one of their victims, Midoye, slipped off their hook.
Speaking at a press conference,the Commander of Amotekun Corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, said the syndicate put on the internet a concept through which any interested Nigerians could get a job in the neighbouring countries.
He said whoever indicated interest would be asked to pay N650, 000 with the promise to provide accommodation and begin to work immediately in companies looking for workers.
Midoye said he fell for the bait and travelled to Paraku, a town which is over five hours drive from Cotonou, the capital city of Benin Republic.
Arriving in the town, he saw 15 young chaps clustered in a room and it dawned on him he had been swindled.
He said: “Immediately I entered the room and saw 15 young men on the lying on the floor, it became clear that there was no job as presented by the organisers of my trip.”
When asked how he got in contact with the fraudsters, he said someone who was already in Benin Republic through the syndicate.
He disclosed that he had only paid N200,000 to the syndicate of the N650,000 charges due to the limit of bank transfer he could make per day.
No fewer than 23 out of 75 suspects apprehended by the Amotekun Corps were paraded for different crimes including kidnapping, raping, robbery.
A gang of kidnappers operating in Akoko axis of the was also busted as the rest of the members of the gang were apprehended in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of the state.
According to Amotekun commander, one of the kidnappers, Amadu Sede, had been arrested four months ago having been shot and hacked on the head by his colleagues for refusing to kill a victim.
The Corps took him to intensive care unit where he spent 50 days before he regained consciousness. He went through series of surgery operations.
When he recuperated, he took men of the Amotekun Corps to the hideout of the kidnappers, but they had relocated to Igbokoda where they were apprehended.
Other members of the gang arrested are 75-year-old Alhaji Ibrahim and his son, Sulaiman Ibrahim. Mohammed Bello and Abdul Wahab Saminu.
Akogun Adeleye said the kidnappers had some cattle which they used as a decoy as the people in the community took them for herders.
Another gang of burglars, which specialised in stealing power generating sets, was also busted.
Olusoji Idowu and his partner would come a truck from Ogun State and break into different shops stealing the power generating sets and zoom off.
Akogun Adeleye said the Corps was working on how to identify and arrest those who received the items from them.
Gas
Nigeria Seeks US Funding Support For Natural Gas Growth
The Minister of State Petroleum Resources Chief Timipre Sylva appealed to the United States (US) Government to provide funding support for Nigeria to develop its natural gas resources to serve as alternative source of energy for Europe.
The Minister’s call was conveyed in a statement signed by Horatius Egua,
Senior Adviser (Media and Communications),
to Minister of State Petroleum Resources.
His appeal came on the heels of Russian war with Ukraine, which threatens the disruption of gas supplies from Russia to the entire European continent.
Speaking at a meeting with the US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, on the side-line of the ongoing Ceraweek, in Houston Texas, Sylva said the collaboration between the US and Nigeria in this area would be of immense benefits to both countries as well as the entire globe.
He said:“It is in the interests of the global community that there is alternative supply of gas to Europe. The challenge for us to achieve this feat has been lack of infrastructure and we need funding to development infrastructure for our gas and we believe that the US can provide that funding”.
He said Nigeria has abundance of natural gas resources that can meet European gas demands,stressing that the problem has been access to funding.
He explained that as part of efforts to boost gas supplies across the African continent, Nigeria has embarked upon the construction of a 600 kilometers of the Ajaokuta- Kaduna- Kano (AKK) gas pipeline designed to take gas to Europe via North Africa and therefore called on the US to provide the needed funding for infrastructure for the exploitation of the huge natural gas in Nigeria.
“We have access to gas but access to funding has been the problem. Our desire is to be able to take gas from Nigeria through Algeria to Europe. We have already commenced the AKK gas pipeline project and if we have the required funding we can complete that project in two years, “the minister said adding that Nigeria has “over 206 tcl of natural gas reserve and unproven reserve of 600 tcl. We believe that if we target exploitation of natural gas in Nigeria, we will be able to get up to 600 tcl. We need to have the needed funding to develop our gas and the US can provide us this funding”.
The minister said the crisis between Russia and Ukraine was a wakeup call to have alternative sources of gas to Europe stressing that in “situations like this, it is always good to have alternative. It is time to say let’s look forward”.
Speaking on the burning issue of global energy transition, Sylva said for the energy transition programme to be meaningful, the peculiar problems of Africa must be factored into the entire energy transition arrangement.
He called on the US to support Nigeria and other African countries in the areas of funding and technology stressing that it is through such collaborations that the energy transition programme can be “fast-tracked”.
He cautioned that such funding and technological supports must be made accessible to interested countries.
“We have to workout a structured way to access the funding. We must create that understanding to make the loans accessible. The issue of sovereign guarantee must be removed so that interested countries can easily access the funding. “the minister further stated.
Speaking,Granholm expressed the readiness of the US to cooperate with Nigeria to develop her renewable energy sector noting that her government was not against the development of gas or other sources of energy.
She said the US government would be willing to support Nigeria in developing her renewable energy sources and therefore called for a coordinated strategy to pin down specific areas of focus where funding and other supports would be required.
“Investors are interested in funding renewable energy in Nigeria but they are interested in knowing possible areas of focus. We have to work out a structured way to access the fund” Granholm said.
In an earlier meeting with the US Assistant Secretary of State Harry Karman, Sylva expressed Nigeria’s willingness to develop the different sources of renewable energy such as wind, solar and hydrogen.
He spoke also about the need to streamline targeted financing adding that “there must be a framework of accessing the funding”.
Karman in his remarks assured the minister of the US government’s readiness to support Nigeria in finding sustainable energy sources for the millions of Nigerians without access to power adding that “anywhere we can be of support we will”.
