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Just in: Many Feared K!lled As Explosion Rocks Judge’s Residence In Abuja
An explosion at the home of Abubakar Musa, a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, has killed three persons.
The victims, a welder and his two apprentices were working on a leaking diesel container at the residence in Kubwa, a satellite town in Abuja, when the tragic incident occurred on Thursday.
The welder, who was identified as Salihu Abubakar and the apprentices whose names could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report, died instantly from the explosion.
Their remains were evacuated to the mortuary by officers from Galadima Police Station near Gwarimpa Estate, where the matter was reported.
A witness, who did not want his name mentioned, said the welders started the work the previous day but could not complete it due to a lack of power supply.
“The welder and his boys came here yesterday to work because they have a place around the estate. But they couldn’t finish because there was no light.
“This morning, they came to do it but the security man said he warned them against working on a container of diesel that has diesel in it, but they did not listen to him. He said he left them even though he is in charge of the house’s security because he could not risk his life,” they narrated.
The judge, Mr Musa said that he was not at the scene when the incident occurred.
He expressed deep regret over the incident.
“I gave this job to a professional who has been working on my gate. This was not the first time. I told him that the leaking container contained some diesel, but he said he could do it.
“On my way to work this morning, I had a second thought about the job to stop them, but due to so many activities in my head, I forgot about it.
“But my security guard said that he told them that there was diesel inside the container and it wouldn’t be possible for them to weld the metal container without evacuating the diesel. But they refused to heed him, which made him leave them. He (the security guard) said that he refused to stay close to them.”
Mr Musa said the two apprentices started the work before they were joined by their master shortly before the explosion.
“He was not there at the beginning, but he rushed to the house to stop his two boys when the explosion occurred that killed the three of them,” he said.
However, tensions arose when one of the victim’s brothers accused the judge of negligence. He said the deceased left behind eight young children.
Reached out to the acting chairperson of Efab Metropolis Estate Residents Association, Ibrahim Garba, for comments, but he declined to speak.
The facility manager of the estate, Obiora Ulasi, also declined to comment.
Police speak
The estate police said the matter had been transferred to the Galadima police station but officers at the station refused to speak with this newspaper.
However, the FCT Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, confirmed that three persons died in the incident.
“There was a fire incident and we went there to check and provide security. They employed the services of a welder to fix a gas tank. The judge told us that the tank was leaking and he called them to weld it,” she said.
By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives is set to host the country’s first National Legislative Conference on Renewable Energy, aimed at driving new laws, attracting investment, and pushing Nigeria further along its energy transition journey.
This was revealed during a press briefing by the Chairman, House Committee on Renewable Energy, Rep. Afam Victor Ogene, who described the event as a turning point for energy legislation in Nigeria.
He said: “The conference aims at bringing together key stakeholders and industry players to discuss renewable energy legislations, energy transition, renewable energy financing, investment opportunities and related matters.
“It’s about developing a national legislative framework on renewable energy”.
The conference, which is being organised by the House Committee on Renewable Energy in partnership with the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will take place under the UNDP Parliamentary Development Program.
Rep. Ogene noted that recent legal reforms have created space for state governments to play a more active role in Nigeria’s power sector. He pointed to the Fifth Alteration Bill 2022 (No.33), now signed into law, which allows states to legislate on electricity matters within the national grid. Before now, states could only act on off-grid power.
In addition, he highlighted the Electricity Act of 2023, which came into effect in February 2024.
“It permits states to issue licenses for all electricity activities – generation, transmission and distribution across the entire power sector value chain,” he said.
The Committee Chairman further stated that the new National Integrated Electricity Policy, expected in 2025, will guide states in forming new electricity markets, where solar power and other renewable sources will be key to reaching underserved communities.
Ogene explained, “The conference has three clear objectives:
“To promote dialogue among legislators, experts and stakeholders on critical legislative priorities.
“To establish a coordinated platform for federal and state lawmakers, and to produce a clear, time-bound legislative action plan.
“International partners are also on board. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will participate, and parliaments from South Africa, Ghana and Gambia have confirmed attendance. Ghana is sending a three-man delegation led by the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Alban Kingsford Bagbin”.
In another major highlight, the Netherlands-based platform INCLUDE will host a Pan-African Legislative Dialogue session on renewable energy, to be chaired by the Hon. Speaker, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen.
“The session will focus on how to establish a unified legislative framework on renewable energy development, investment and financing.
“The time has come for us to act. This is not just another conference – it is the foundation of Nigeria’s renewable energy future”, Ogene added.
Expected outcomes from the conference include new policy and legislative reform proposals to boost renewable energy use, as well as draft laws that will encourage public and private sector investment.
Other goals are to enhance collaboration between federal and state lawmakers, raise public awareness, and roll out a practical roadmap for implementation and progress tracking.
The event will also feature a technology showcase of renewable energy innovations and business opportunities.
By Francesca Hangeior
The operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Wednesday, arrived at the Federal High Court in Abuja with the businesswoman, Aisha Achimugu, as ordered by the court.
Achimugu, who was sandwiched by two female EFCC officers, arrived in court at about 11:35 am.
It could be recalled that Justice Inyang Ekwo had, on Monday, ordered the industrialist, alleged to have fled the country, to honour the invitation by the anti-graft agency on Tuesday at noon.
Justice Ekwo, who gave the order in a short ruling, also ordered the EFCC, upon the appearance of Achimugu at its office, to return with her to court on Wednesday for a report.
Achimugu was, however, said to have been arrested by the EFCC’s operatives on her arrival abroad at about 5 am and kept in custody.
By Francesca Hangeior
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned that the United States would give up on mediation unless Russia and Ukraine put forward “concrete proposals,” as US patience wanes on an early priority for Donald Trump.
The US president had vowed to end the war in his first 24 hours back in the White House but, as Trump celebrates 100 days in office, Rubio has suggested the administration could soon turn attention to other issues.
“We are now at a time where concrete proposals need to be delivered by the two parties on how to end this conflict,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters, in what she said was a message from Rubio.
“If there is not progress, we will step back as mediators in this process.”
She said it would ultimately be up to Trump to decide whether to move ahead on diplomacy.
The president suggested on Tuesday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin still wants to negotiate a peace agreement with Ukraine.
Asked in an interview with ABC television if Putin wants peace, Trump said: “I think he does.”
Putin recently proposed a three-day ceasefire around Moscow’s commemorations next week for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
But he has rebuffed a Ukrainian-backed US call for a 30-day ceasefire.
The United States wants “not a three-day moment so you can celebrate something else — a complete, durable ceasefire and an end to the conflict,” Bruce said.
It remains unclear if Rubio is actually ready to turn the page or is seeking to pressure the two countries.
The United States already put together a framework proposal which Ukrainians feel bows to Russian demands.
Trump has suggested an official recognition of Russia’s takeover in 2014 of Crimea, an annexation rejected by nearly all the world, in addition to land swaps.
“We all want this war to end in a fair way — with no rewards for Putin, especially no land,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told an event in Poland by videoconference on Tuesday.
Russia has also not moved on the proposal with many experts believing Moscow now sees an upper hand — on the battlefield and diplomatically, with Trump eager to reconcile.
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, sought to blame Zelensky and said that Russia would keep speaking with the United States.
Zelensky “is bent on escalating the conflict. He’s recklessly rejecting the United States’ balanced peace proposals,” Nebenzia told a UN Security Council meeting.
US diplomat John Kelley told the session that both sides would benefit from working off the US framework and condemned Russian strikes into Ukraine.
“Right now, Russia has a great opportunity to achieve a durable peace,” Kelley said.
Trump in turn berated Zelensky in a February 28 White House meeting. He and Vice President JD Vance accused the wartime leader of ingratitude for US weapons sent under Biden.
Ukraine quickly tried to make amends by backing US diplomatic efforts and pursuing a deal in which the United States would control much of the country’s mineral wealth.
US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Tuesday that recognizing “Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea would invite additional aggression from Moscow and Beijing.”
“I have endeavored to give President Trump the space to negotiate a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, which is a goal we both share,” she said.
“However, President Trump and his team have fatally mismanaged these negotiations — offering concession after concession to Russia, throwing away our leverage and fracturing the united front with our allies that is critical to ending this war,” she said.
Ukraine ordered on Tuesday the evacuation of seven villages in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region which used to be remote from the frontlines but are now under threat as Russian forces close in.
Last week a ballistic missile ripped into a residential area of Kyiv in one of the deadliest attacks on the capital since the invasion.
Trump, who has claimed that Putin would not have attacked Ukraine if he were in power in 2022, wrote, “Vladimir, STOP,” on social media after the attack.
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