News
Petroleum Marketers’ Meeting With ADITOP: Stop Putting Yourself Under Panic Mood, PTD Tells NUPENG*
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
An elder from the Port Harcourt Zone of Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) Branch of NUPENG, Comrade Joseph Dagogo-Jack (JP) has flayed the leadership of NUPENG for cautioning stakeholders in the Petroleum industry not to accord recognition to Association of Distributors and Transporters of Petroleum Products (ADITOP) who is set to hold a very crucial meeting on Thursday, October 31, 2024 with the petroleum marketers and other key stakeholders in the industry.
Elder Dagogo-Jack who spoke to some selected journalists in Calabar, Cross River State Wednesday night added that NUPENG acted ignorantly, having failed to understand the letters of the constitution of the land which clearly gave the right and privileges to all Nigerians to freely and willingly associate without fear of intimidation, harassment, or victimization.
Comrades Williams Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale, President and General Secretary, respectively of NUPENG had earlier on Wednesday issued a statement to newsmen in Abuja notifying the public about the latest development in the petroleum downstream sector and the potential threat it could have on its numerical strength.
Dagogo-Jack stated that lack of competent leaders have caused the Union many pains and has depleted the membership of the union. He further cited many court cases as bane of progress in PTD, while also urging NUPENG to embrace reconciliation and unite all aggrieved members. He said if that was done no Association can stand as a threat to the union under any guise.
“One wonders why NUPENG especially the General Secretary, and the President, Afolabi Olawale and Williams Akporeha have suddenly become so destabilized and jittery, having got the information that ADITOP will be meeting with petroleum marketers and other key stakeholders in the industry on Thursday, to the extent that they had to issue a statement notifying industry stakeholders not to be associated with them.
“This is not only laughable but also ridiculous. But of course, for lack of knowledge, and gross incompetence it will be quick for them to say NUPENG and its sister Union PENGASSAN are the umbrella bodies for Oil and Gas Workers in Nigeria that represent and protect the interests of the Nigerian oil and Gas workers including Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD). NUPENG has forgotten that the constitution of Nigeria clearly bestows on the citizens the rights and privileges to freely and willingly associate without fear of intimidation, harassment, or victimization.
“Regrettably, the PTD Branch of NUPENG, which is the goose that lays the golden egg, has multiple cases in court. We have cases that are on internal issues aside from election and pre-election matters in all courts; Federal High Courts to National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), to Court of Appeal. When a Union is in crisis, it will find it difficult to be on the pathway of peace, progress and prosperity. The Union that succeeds is the one that can manage its affairs, avoid crisis, and be united at all times without cracks or division. You need that unity to get the best of your members along with the leadership to drive your agenda, purposes and objectives. Nobody will invest in a crisis-laden trade union; that would apparently amount to a waste of time, energy, and resources.
“When a Union is in crisis, things don’t augur well at all, and no serious-minded industry player will ever want to associate with such union and that is the limitation and challenge PTD and NUPENG are facing at the moment. The PTD as currently constituted can best be described as an empty shell divided into pieces. To reposition itself, the PTD has to put in place effective leadership. A Union or association without a responsible, committed and competent leaders that can weather the storms should be shown the way out. So, the right and effective leadership has to be put in place as quickly as possible. The leadership has to work in synergy and be united. When they have that united leadership, then the PTD can build up all the other structures of the Branch in a most acceptable and legitimate manner at Unit, Zonal and National levels.
“However the only move to be initiated by the leadership of NUPENG that will significantly help the Union to restore back its lost glory and dignity is for the General Secretary, Olawale Afolabi and the President, Williams Akporeha to drop all cases in court and create room for reconciliation, unite every aggrieved member and ultimately bestore leadership legitimacy of Comrade Lucky Osesua, Comrade Dayyabu Garga, Comrade (Chief) Peter Moudebelu (Onwa), Comrade Dr Humble Obinna Power and others in line with the extant rules of the Union.
“This will undoubtedly restore sanity back to the Union and foster progress and prosperity. It will also restore confidence wherein the parent Union will have no reason to doubt the loyalty of its executives or to insinuate they may want to pitch their tent with another Union, for example ADITOP. If members of PTD across the four zones of the Branch see that Osesua and his team are back, then the Union will come back to its full potential as a formidable and indomitable trade union with capacity, wit and force.
“The Federal Government, Law enforcement agencies, industry stakeholders are all watching NUPENG very closely, other Unions both locally and intentionally are also watching, therefore NUPENG’s leadership should swallow its pride and mend its fence. There is nothing to be ashamed of, in retracing one’s bad steps in the overall and collective interest of the Union, and putting behind every internal challenge plaguing the union, and I tell you it is not too late to do the needful if truly they are genuine leaders,” Dagogo-Jack stated.
… intercepts cocaine in Saudi-bound religious books,
. ..recovers 563kg skunk, meth, heroin in Bayelsa warehouse, arrests 4; destroys cannabis farms in Edo forest
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a shipment of cocaine concealed in 20 sets of religious books going to Saudi Arabia.
The cocaine consignment consisting of 20 parcels with a total weight of 500grams and buried in the pages of the religious books was uncovered at a courier company in Lagos on Tuesday 15th April 2025 when NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) were searching through export cargos going to Saudi Arabia at the logistics firm.
At another courier company same day, NDLEA officers intercepted five parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 2.8 kilograms hidden in a carton coming from the United States of America.
In Kano, a 22-year-old supplier of illicit substances to bandits, Muhammad Mohammed, has been arrested by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Bichi – Kano road while heading to Katsina with 277 ampoules of pentazocine injection tied to his thigh and private part with Sellotape. He was intercepted on Sunday 13th April, while another suspect, Mohammed Abdulrahman Abdulaziz, 43, was nabbed same day at Research Rimin Kebe area of Nasarawa, Kano with 68 blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 30kg.
Not less than 557.2kg of skunk, 5.6kg of methamphetamine and 29.8grams of heroin were recovered from a house along Major General Isaiah Alllison Street, Opolo, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state where four suspects were arrested when NDLEA operatives raided the premises on Wednesday 16th April. The four suspects arrested during the raid include: Sarimiye Suwa Kurtis, 46; Roland Prosper, 34; Sarimiye Tare Paul, 45; and Fidelis Ugbesla, 46.
While a total of 1,100 kilograms of skunk were recovered from a delivery van with the driver, Ismail Abdullahi arrested in Surulere area of Lagos on Thursday 17th April, NDLEA operatives in Kaduna on Friday 18th April raided the hideout of a suspect, Ike Ani, 30, in Zaria, where no fewer than 31,950 pills of tramadol 225mg and diazepam were recovered.
In Kebbi, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Bagudo road on Friday 18th April intercepted a vehicle loaded with bags of charcoal coming from Malabil, Benin Republic. A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 97kg skunk concealed in the sacks of charcoal. Three suspects: Abubakar Ibrahim, 50; Mustapha Aliyu, 32; and Bashar Lawali, 28, were arrested in connection with the seizure.
A 48-year-old Okafor Marcel was nabbed with 11.5kg skunk at Abatete, Anambra state while NDLEA operatives in Osogbo, Osun state on Tuesday 15th April arrested Ajala Mercy, 27, with 43 litres of skushi, a mixture of black currant, cannabis and opioids recovered from her room at Dada estate, Halleluyah area of the state capital.
Two cannabis farms in Egbeta forest, Ovia North East LGA, Edo state were raided by NDLEA operatives who destroyed 3,717.8625kg of the psychoactive plant on 1.487145 hectares and recovered 136.5kg of processed cannabis.
At the Tincan seaport in Lagos, a suspect Basorun Usman Kayode, 40, who has been at large for two years was arrested by NDLEA officers in connection with the seizure of 107kg Loud imported from Cannada in 2023, while another suspect, Dauda Yakubu who distributes illicit drugs within the seaport community was arrested by a team of operatives on Monday 14th April.
The War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands equally continued across the country in the past week. Some of them include: WADA sensitization lecture delivered to students and staff of St. Michael Anglican Primary School, Epe, Lagos; Community Grammar School, Ipoti Ekiti, Ekiti state; College of Education, Minna, Niger state; traders at Igbona market, Osogbo, Osun state; traders at Marian Market, Calabar, Cross River; drivers and others at Peace Mass Transit park, Upper Iweka, Onitsha, Anambra state, among others.
While commending the officers and men of DOGI, Kano, Lagos, Kaduna, Kebbi, Osun, Zone 13, Edo and Tincan Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) equally praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for ensuring a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
Dr Emomotimi Agama, the Director General of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), has explained that there is nothing the Commission can do to help victims of the CBEX scam recover their lost investments.
CBEX or Crypto Bridge Exchange, an unregistered online trading platform vanished last Monday with about N1.3 trillion invested by about 600,000 investors.
CBEX which had operated under ST Technologies International Ltd lured its victims with a 100 percent returns on investment after 30 days.
Asked by Sunday Vanguard if there is anything the Commission can do to help victims recover their money in part or in full, Dr Agama said: “There is nothing the Commission can do”.
He however expressed concern that Nigerians continued to invest in an unregistered digital entity without drawing the attention of the Commission.
“We are worried that this went on for long without anyone drawing our attention to it. That is why we are doing more enlightenment and asking people to come forward to report this for early detection.
How Nigerians can identify a Ponzi Scheme
He warned Nigerians against investing their money in Ponzi Schemes, saying such schemes make promises that are not real.
“You can identify a Ponzi Scheme when an entity makes offers that appear certainly untrue and are bogus. The definition we have in the ISA (Investments and Securities Act, 2025) clearly tells you that when an investment firm makes any promise that is almost totally unattainable, you will know that that is clearly a Ponzi scheme”.
SEC disclosed that preliminary investigations have revealed that CBEX engaged in promotional activities to create a false perception of legitimacy, in order to entice unsuspecting members of the public into investing monies, with the promise of implausibly high guaranteed returns within a short timeframe.
The Commission stated that CBEX, which also operates under the corporate identity of ST Technologies International Ltd, Smart Treasure/Super Technology, had held itself out as a digital asset-trading platform, offering high returns to investors in Nigeria.
According to the SEC, “The Commission hereby clarifies that neither CBEX nor its affiliates were granted registration by the Commission at any time to operate as a Digital Assets Exchange, solicit investments from the public or perform any other function within the Nigerian capital market.
The SEC emphasised that pursuant to the provisions of Section 196 of the Investments and Securities Act 2025, the Commission would collaborate with relevant law enforcement agencies to take appropriate enforcement action against the CBEX, its affiliates and promoters.
“The Commission uses this medium to remind the public to refrain from investing in or dealing with any entity offering unrealistic returns or employing similar recruitment-based investment models. Prospective investors are advised to verify the registration status of investment platforms via the Commission’s dedicated portal: www.sec.gov.ng/cmos before transacting with them”, the SEC added.
How I lost N500,000 in 7 days – Victim
Narrating how he got involved in the doomed platform, an Abuja based journalist told Sunday Vanguard that he invested N500,000 on April 4, 2025 with the hope of receiving N1 million after 30 days.
The journalist who requested not be named said: “I was involved for just seven days and lost N500,000 to the scam. I have a friend who has been pressuring me to invest on CBEX since December last year and I actually have been resisting because of my past experience with MMM.
“But he kept telling me and showing me how much he was making. So, I decided to give it a try and I got involved and finally transferred N500,000 on April 4. I was admitted into a Telegram group chat. Then the story began. The only luck I have is that my wife refused to be involved after I asked her to. I would have been in serious trouble by now.
“Immediately I got wind of troubles especially when people were locked out of the Telegram group, I tried to withdraw my money which had risen to N616,000 but I couldn’t”, he narrated.
NDLEA nabs bandits supplier with drugs concealed in private part(Photos)
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