FiNetwork, Abuja (2026)

14/09/2026

FiNetwork
Nigerian nationals who were arrested in South Africa back in 2021 for their supposed connections to the Black Axe organized crime group have now been extradited to the United States. They’re facing serious charges of wire fraud and money laundering.

The individuals are Perry Osagiede, Collins Owhofasa Otughwor, Osariemen Eric Clement, Musa Mudashiru, Franklyn Edosa Osagiede, and Prince Ibeabuchi Mark. They were officially handed over to U.S. authorities on September 11, 2026, after a lengthy extradition process.

Back in 2021, reports mentioned that some female relatives attended the court proceedings, and Nigerian diplomatic officials were keeping an eye on the situation, though it’s unclear how much their families were aware of the details.

South African authorities claim these men were involved in romance scams that targeted over 100 Americans, leading to losses exceeding R100 million, about ₦8.19 billion naira at the current rate.

This case underscores how international fraud investigations can drag on for years and serves as a stark reminder that getting involved in “Yahoo Yahoo” or similar financial crimes can have serious repercussions. Of course, these allegations are just allegations until proven in court.

24/08/2026

BREAKING NEWS:

Israel Hits Shared Turkish-Syrian Base Once More.

Israelí is said to have a fresh attack on a Military facility where Turkish and Syrian troops were co-deployed, intensifying the friction between Israèlí and Türkiye and reviving debate over how Ankara will react.

The alleged assault hit an housing Soldiers from both the Turkish and Syrian Armies. The episode carries added weight because Türkiye has consistently cautioned against Israèlí operations in Syrian territory and has steadily deepened its Military footprint and defense partnership with Damascus.

This reported raid against a backdrop of already strained ties between Israel and Türkiye. While Ankara has sharply condemned Israeli campaigns across the region, including in Gaza and Lebanon, Israel has grown increasingly uneasy about Türkiye's expanding strategic and military reach inside Syria.

The incident further the fragile security landscape in Syria, where multiple external forces Israèlis , Turkish, American, Russian and Iranian-linked groups continue to operate in close quarters.

In spite of the gravity of the alleged strike, no substantial Turkish retaliation has been officially declared so far. Ankara's apparent caution may indicate a desire to prevent a direct clash with Israel, especially as the two states remain at odds over Syria, the war in Gazà, and the wider regional power equation.

Those critical of Türkiye's posture are likely to ask why Ankara has not adopted a firmer stance after a site accommodating its own personnel was reportedly .

In a more cynical interpretation, some commentators might quip that even Hamas appears to be exacting retribution against and Syrian units given that, despite the reported bombardment, there has been surprisingly little outcry from Ankara.

Beyond the political commentary, however, the episode underscores a far more dangerous reality: Israeli and Turkish forces are now maneuvering in a theater where their core interests increasingly collide. Any additional Israeli strike on Turkish troops or assets could thus have far more severe repercussions and risk sparking a direct military showdown between two leading regional powers.

For the moment, the central question remains whether Türkiye will choose an armed response, opt for diplomatic, or maintain restraint to stop the standoff from spiraling into a broader regional conflict.

16/08/2026

Breaking News...
Adeleke wins Osun guber election.

FULL LIST:
19 Osun LGAs where Adeleke recorded highest votes
August 16, 2026 7:12 am
Adeleke, Osun
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State. Credit: Osun State Government

Incumbent Osun State Governor and Accord Party candidate, Ademola Adeleke, has taken the lead across a majority of the 30 local government areas announced so far in the state governorship election, according to results presented at the Independent National Electoral Commission collation centre in Osogbo.

The state’s Returning Officer, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, is expected to make the final declaration after the completion of the collation exercise on Sunday.

INEC commenced the collation and announcement of results from the governorship election held on Saturday, with Adeleke and the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, emerging as the dominant contenders.

Based on the local government results provided, Adeleke recorded the most votes in 19 of the 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji led in 11.

One of the closest contests was in Boluwaduro, where Adeleke polled 7,118 votes against the APC’s 7,050.

LGAs won by Adeleke

Adeleke recorded his strongest performances in several of his traditional strongholds, including:

Ede North: Adeleke — 35,427; APC — 10,283

Osogbo: Adeleke — 36,480; APC — 30,474

Ede South: Adeleke — 26,188; APC — 6,219

Iwo: Adeleke — 27,085; APC — 19,660

Ife East: Adeleke — 27,201; APC — 18,600

Ife Central: Adeleke — 21,171; APC — 15,913

Ifelodun: Adeleke — 21,107; APC — 18,396

Oriade: Adeleke — 21,343; APC — 14,863

Egbedore: Adeleke — 19,278; APC — 11,194

Odo Otin: Adeleke — 18,003; APC — 15,435

Related News
Osun gov poll largely peaceful, says CDD
BREAKING: Adeleke wins 19 LGs, APC’s Oyebamiji secures 11 LGs
[ ] LIVE UPDATE: Adeleke edges to victory as INEC announces all 30 LGs’ results
Ilesa West: Adeleke — 16,196; APC — 12,756

Ila: Adeleke — 16,211; APC — 12,934

Ayedaade: Adeleke — 16,681; APC — 15,719

Ife North: Adeleke — 13,879; APC — 9,613

Orolu: Adeleke — 12,352; APC — 10,622

Boluwaduro: Adeleke — 7,118; APC — 7,050

Ayedire: Adeleke — 11,073; APC — 9,910

LGAs won by APC

The APC candidate led in 11 local government areas, including some areas where the party traditionally enjoys substantial support.

The APC won Ilesa East with 16,208 votes against Adeleke’s 12,280; Boripe with 19,963 against 12,448; Irepodun with 15,713 against 14,504; and Obokun with 16,120 against 12,023.

Oyebamiji also led in Atakumosa West, Irewole, Atakumosa East, Isokan, Olaoluwa, Ife South, and Olorunda, among others.

The results also showed a competitive race in several LGAs. In Irewole, for instance, the APC secured 29,972 votes against Adeleke’s 10,934, while in Olorunda, the APC polled 24,671 against Adeleke’s 23,514.

The preliminary outcome broadly matches the trend reported during the collation, when Adeleke opened an early lead over Oyebamiji as results from across the state were announced.

The election featured the Accord, APC and African Democratic Congress as the three leading parties in the results being collated. The ADC generally recorded significantly lower figures, although it polled 5,053 votes in Ejigbo, its strongest showing among the figures supplied.

As of the latest collation stage, INEC had not formally declared a winner, making Prof. Ogunwole’s announcement the next major step in the process. Reports from the collation centre indicate that results from all 30 local government areas have been announced, with Adeleke maintaining the lead.

The final declaration will formally determine whether Adeleke secures another term as governor of Osun State or whether the APC’s Oyebamiji overturns the emerging lead at the state level.

Adekunle Sulaimon
Adekunle, a fellow of Data and Solutions Journalism, has over four years experience with competences in data journalism and investigations.
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12/08/2026

Nigerian tycoon Eruani Azibapu's $1 billion Niger Delta refinery is nearing completion
Azibapu Eruani's Azikel Refinery in Bayelsa is at finishing stage, with capacity redesigned to 25,000 barrels a day and cost near $1 billion.

Nigerian tycoon Eruani Azibapu's $1 billion Niger Delta refinery is nearing completion
Eruani Azibapu
Eruani Azibapu's Azikel Refinery in Yenagoa has reached its finishing stage, putting Bayelsa State within sight of hosting the first private refinery in the Niger Delta capable of producing petrol and aviation fuel.

The plant will run at 25,000 barrels a day and represents an investment of about $1 billion, the president of Azikel Group said during a tour of the complex by the Nigerian Society of Engineers this month.

Around 700 engineers and other personnel are working on the completion phase, most of them young Bayelsans and Nigerian engineers alongside expatriate specialists. Azikel expects to employ more than 3,000 people once the refinery is running, and says the project has already generated over 80,000 indirect jobs.

Mac Jokori, chairman of the engineering society's Bayelsa branch, said the facility complied with the highest engineering standards and described it as a significant milestone for Nigerian refining. The plant is designed to take both condensate and crude oil as feedstock.

"As engineers, we recognise that a refinery of this scale is more than a commercial venture," Jokori said. "It is an engine of industrialisation, a catalyst for local capacity building, and a pathway to sustainable development for our youths."

He pledged the society's support through technical collaboration, internships, mentorship, research partnerships and capacity building, and said the refinery would deepen cooperation between industry, government and professional bodies on safety, environmental standards and local content.

A full slate rather than a topping plant

Eruani said the extended construction timeline reflected deliberate engineering choices rather than difficulty.

Azikel is a full-slate hydro-skimming refinery, capable of turning crude or condensate into premium motor spirit, diesel, aviation fuel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas at Euro V grade. Topping plants, the simpler facilities that most Nigerian modular refinery licences have produced, make mainly diesel.

"The cracking of crude oil or condensate to produce petrol and aviation fuel is a major feat in the refinery business, which can only be achieved by hydro-skimming refineries and other refineries equipped with Fluid Catalytic Cracking units," Eruani said.

He described Azikel as Nigeria's second largest full-slate refinery and the only plant in Africa designed to process condensate into a complete product range covering petrol, dual purpose kerosene, automotive gas oil and heavy fuel oil. The company plans a later expansion to 125,000 barrels a day.

Eruani said the project had been conceived to turn Bayelsa into an industrial hub while creating employment across the Niger Delta.

How the project grew

The refinery Azikel is finishing is considerably larger than the one it was licensed to build.

Regulators approved the project in 2015, in the first months of Muhammadu Buhari's presidency. When Azikel Petroleum signed a $259 million debt funding agreement with the African Export-Import Bank in November 2023, both parties described the plant as a 12,000 barrel-a-day hydro-skimming refinery.

Eruani signed that agreement with Helen Brume, Afreximbank's director of project and asset-based finance, at a ceremony attended by Presidents Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt, Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe and Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi, along with former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, former vice-president Namadi Sambo and Afreximbank president Benedict Oramah.

"The Azikel Refinery licensed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 has now gone through several enhanced value engineering and redesign to a 25,000 barrels per day capacity," Eruani said. "It is now a $1 billion investment."

Capacity has therefore roughly doubled since the financing was arranged, and the stated investment has grown several times over. Azikel Petroleum contracted the American oil services group McDermott for feasibility work and construction on the plant.

From medicine to dredging to refining

Eruani came to refining by an unusual route.

Born in 1973 in what was then Rivers State, he trained as a doctor and practised at Westend Clinic and Ashford & Patrick Hospital before joining the Bayelsa State civil service as a medical officer. He moved into industrial medicine at Nigerian Agip Oil Company, the ENI subsidiary in Port Harcourt, and served as chief physician to Melford Okilo, the first civilian governor of old Rivers State. He later became special adviser on HIV/AIDS and community health, and served as Bayelsa's commissioner for health.

He learned trading from his father, Chief Allwell Eruani, and later took business courses at London Business School and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Azikel Group was founded in 2008 and made its money in sand. Azikel Dredging became the biggest name in the business before it owned a single dredger, and nearly lost the machine it had commissioned from the American manufacturer DSC when Eruani ran a few hundred thousand dollars short on the purchase, having already borrowed heavily from a bank. The contract that closed the gap came from Setraco Group, which had won the federal East-West road job and needed a million cubic metres of sand delivered on schedule.

The group had revenues above $80 million and more than 700 employees by 2018 across dredging, aviation, agriculture and energy. It now runs as Azikel Dredging, Azikel Air, Azikel Power and Azikel Petroleum, headquartered in Bayelsa with an office in Asokoro, Abuja.

Eruani expanded through the years Goodluck Jonathan served as vice-president and then president. Both men come from the Ogbia area of Bayelsa State.

Azikel has not announced a start-up date for the completed plant.
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05/08/2026

The Police Force Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday said it is investigating the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 2 Command, Moshood Jimoh, over allegations raised by Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM).

Force Public Relations Officer Ani Iniedu, who disclosed this, said the AIG had been invited for questioning as part of an internal administrative review, while the criminal matter linked to the allegations is before a court.

He, however, maintained that the police would not litigate the matter in the media or allow public campaigns to influence the judicial process.

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Iniedu, in a statement issued in Abuja, read:

“The Nigeria Police Force notes recent public statements and social media commentary by Mr. Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), concerning the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, Lagos, and an ongoing criminal matter. The Force wishes to place the following facts on record and clarify the status of both the judicial and administrative processes involved.

“The criminal matter referenced in public commentary was investigated and is now before a court of competent jurisdiction, following the advice of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP). As the matter is sub judice, its adjudication rests solely with the judiciary. The Force will not try this case in the media, nor will it allow its outcome to be shaped by public campaigns or commentary seeking to prejudge the officers or parties involved.

“Separately, and in line with its internal accountability mechanisms, the Force confirms that the Assistant Inspector-General, Force Criminal Investigation Department (CID), has invited AIG in charge of Zone 2, AIG Moshood Jimoh, for questioning in connection with the allegations raised

03/08/2026

The Presidency has criticised Cardinal John Onaiyekan over his comments following a private meeting between President Bola Tinubu and members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, describing his television interview as “an abuse of clerical privilege.”

In a statement titled Cardinal Onaiyekan’s Abuse of Clerical Privilege, Presidential Adviser Temitope Ajayi said it was inappropriate for the Catholic cleric to publicly give his account of the closed-door meeting with the President.

“There is something fundamentally inappropriate about Cardinal John Onaiyekan granting a television interview to offer his own account and interpretation of what transpired during the private meeting between the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria and President Bola Tinubu. It is, in my view, an abuse of clerical privilege,” Ajayi said.

According to the statement, the bishops had requested the audience with the President and presented concerns about Nigeria’s economic, social and security challenges. Ajayi said President Tinubu listened patiently before responding to each issue raised.

The Presidency said the President challenged the bishops’ assessment of the country’s situation, arguing that it did not fully reflect progress made by his administration.

“He acknowledged that significant economic and security challenges remain. His point was that the country has emerged from ‘a dark tunnel’, that his administration has laid the foundations for recovery and that the next phase is to ensure the greatest number of Nigerians feels the gains,” the statement said.

On the bishops’ call for the return of mission schools, the Presidency said Tinubu reminded them the matter falls under the jurisdiction of state governments and noted that he returned mission schools while serving as Governor of Lagos State. Everyone

30/07/2026

Israeli scientists launch worlds-first clinical trial for experimental pancreatic cancer treatment
The Israeli-developed treatment uses RNA molecules to silence mutated KRAS genes and will be tested alongside standard therapy in patients with locally advanced disease.

30/07/2026

Breaking news.....

49 children regain freedom from their captives...

coordinated operation led by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) has led to the killing of three suspected bandits and rescue of nine victims during a fierce gun battle in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State. The victims, it was leant, included farmers seized from their farmlands and others who had earlier been abducted in neighbouring Ekiti State. They regained their freedom after the kidnappers were forced to flee under heavy gunfire, abandoning their captives. The operation, which also involved the Kwara State Forest Guards, local hunters and vigilantes, was carried out in the Obbo Aiyegunle, Ejiu Ora and Osi axis of Ekiti LGA bordering Ekiti and Niger states. Speaking with Daily Trust on Wednesday, the Chief Press Secretary to the chairman of Ekiti Local Government, Prince Dada Sunday, confirmed the operation. He said intelligence gathered by security agencies led to the successful rescue mission. Sunday said the kidnappers numbered more than 10 and had assembled victims abducted from different locations before they were intercepted by security operatives. He disclosed that one of the victims sustained serious head injuries after he was cut with a machete while resisting abduction. One of the rescued victims, Umaru Muazu of Obbo Aiyegunle, recounted the ordeal, saying armed men suddenly emerged and seized him and his son. “They came from nowhere and pointed a gun at my head. Four of them took me and my son. They also took my friend’s motorcycle before marching us into the bush,” he said.Another rescued farmer, Ibrahim Danga, said the victims had been held captive before security operatives arrived and engaged the kidnappers. A member of the Kwara Forest Guards, Owolabi Adebayo, said the operation was intelligence driven. “We neutralised three of them and rescued nine victims. They were heavily armed and possessed different types of fi****ms. We need more operational equipment, including body armour, binoculars, night vision goggles, walkie talkies and am******on to effectively confront them,” he said. Nigerians can now invest ₦2.5 million on premium domains and profit about ₦17-₦25 million. All earnings paid in US Dollars. Rather than wonder, click here to find out how it works. Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.

29/07/2026

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed reports claiming it has revised the timetable for campaigns ahead of the 2027 general election, describing a viral graphic circulating on social media as false.

The commission said the graphic, which purportedly outlined campaign dates for the presidential, National Assembly, governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections, did not originate from INEC.

28/07/2026

According to a report by Football Transfer on Tuesday July 28, 2026, Benoit Badiashile is reportedly edging closer to a Chelsea exit after the Premier League club opened discussions with Napoli over a possible transfer. The Italian side are said to be negotiating a season-long loan agreement that would include an obligation to complete a permanent move next summer.

According to reports from Italy, Napoli are pushing to finalise the deal, with journalist Luca Cerchione claiming talks between the two clubs have already begun. Cerchione previously revealed Chelsea’s interest in Marco Palestra before the defender completed his move from Atalanta.

If an agreement is reached, Badiashile will become another high-profile departure under new manager Xabi Alonso. Marc Cucurella, Andrey Santos, Tyrique George and Alejandro Garnacho have already left Stamford Bridge as Chelsea continue reshaping the squad ahead of the new campaign.

Reports indicate Chelsea expect to raise more than €350 million through player sales before Alonso’s first season begins. The club are focused on reducing the squad size while generating funds to support further transfer activity during the summer window.

Chelsea are also believed to be preparing to sell attacking players. Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu are considered the leading candidates to leave, while Liam Delap’s long-term future at the club has also been questioned in recent reports.

Badiashile joined Chelsea from Monaco in January 2023 for a reported €37 million. However, injuries and inconsistent performances have prevented the French defender from establishing himself as a regular starter, limiting him to 71 appearances across three and a half seasons.

Despite those struggles, Badiashile collected winners’ medals during Chelsea’s UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup triumphs in 2025. He has also represented France at senior level, earning two international appearances since making his debut in 2022.

Speaking during Chelsea’s pre-season tour, Alonso admitted further transfers are expected before the window closes. He stressed the importance of maintaining a balanced squad, ensuring enough depth to compete across the Premier League and domestic cup competitions. Chelsea - Football.London

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