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Lawmaker laments Plateau massacre, alleges ethnic cleansing

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4 years ago

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Plateau

The lawmaker representing Mangu/Bokkos Federal Constituency in Plateau State at the House of Representatives, Solomon Marren, has raised the alarm over the killing of his constituents by suspected herdsmen.

Marren, who addressed journalists in Abuja on Thursday over the killings, alleged ethnic cleansing.

He said, “I am deeply pained and grieved by the recent spate of wanton killings and destruction of properties by suspected herders—the Fulani militia—in Mangu/Bokkos Federal Constituency. This ugly and barbaric killing of innocent, peace-loving, and law-abiding citizens is unfortunate, condemnable, censurable, and of grave concern. I reprobate such a dastardly, wicked, and ungodly act in its entirety.

“We want the world to know that on November 14, 2022, an innocent and law-abiding citizen in Gold village of Butura land was attacked, maimed, and killed while returning from the farm for just no reason.

“Also, on November 15, 2022, a group of militia suspected to be herders, fully armed with sophisticated weapons and ammunition, launched an attack on Maikatako village, also in Butura ward of Bokkos Local Government Area, where they killed and burnt to ashes more than 11 people, injured many, and destroyed property worth millions of naira, as well as left hundreds of people homeless and displaced.

“Furthermore, just yesterday, November 16, 2022, another gruesome attack was meted out on some villages, namely Folloh and Mai Jankai, all in Butura Ward, where many other people lost their lives and houses and property worth millions of naira were equally burnt down by the attackers.”

The lawmaker recalled that four persons were killed in Kulias and three others in Makale, all in Butura, on October 24 and November 8, 2022, respectively, by the same militia.

Marren stated, “We want to inform the world that over 300,000 hectares of farmlands have been destroyed by the herders due to deliberate and reckless grazing without caution and/or fear of anybody. Most farmers had little or no harvest due to this wicked action of unscrupulous herders.

“We are disturbed that these attacks are just too many. Just within a month, we have buried more than 30 men and women, including children. Unfortunately, despite the presence of Operation Safe Haven Sector 5, the attackers appeared more armed than the security agents could either counter, repel, or scare them.

“We are especially concerned that with the kind of syndicate the militia has demonstrated and the precision with which they get to their target, if nothing is done urgently to curb these heinous occurrences, the situation may escalate beyond imagination and the entire locality, if not the state, may be thrown into confusion, chaos, and total pandemonium.”

The lawmaker, while further condemning “this iniquitous, heinous, and villainous act,” called on the federal and state governments to rise to their primary responsibility of securing lives and property.”

Marren also urged the Federal Government to mandate the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya; and other security agencies to “mobilise more security agents to the troubled areas, investigate the root causes, with a view to bringing the culprits to justice, restoring normalcy, and forestalling future occurrences.”

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EFCC Arraigns Former MD Of Port Harcourt Refinery for Alleged N1.32bn Money Laundering

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5 hours ago

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July 9, 2026

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday f2026 arraigned Mr. Ahmed Adamu Dikko, former Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd (PHRC), before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on a 12-count charge bordering on money laundering.

The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/360/2026 and dated and filed on June 22 by the Commission’s counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, listed Dikko and Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited as first and second defendants respectively.

Dikko, who led the Port Harcourt Refining Company for about four years, pleaded not guilty to a 12-count charge filed against him by the Commission on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

The EFCC accused Dikko of laundering N1,322,839,112.7 (One Billion, Three Hundred and Twenty-Two Million, Eight Hundred and Thirty-nine Thousand, One Hundred and Twelve Naira, Seven Kobo) in proceeds allegedly linked to contractors engaged by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery, through cash property purchases, undisclosed bank retentions, third-party fund concealment and unauthorised currency conversion, in violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

Count one reads in part: “That you AHMED ADAMU DIKKO… did directly make cash payment of the dollar equivalent of the sum of N218,375,000.00 to one Hadeija Bashir for the purchase of Plot 558, Abubakar Umar Street, Katampe Extension, Abuja without passing through a financial Institution and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Sections 2(1)(a), 19(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 19(2)(b) of the same Act.”

Count eight reads: “That you AHMED ADAMU DIKKO, former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd (PHRC) on or about the 26th of June, 2023 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court disguised the origin of the sum of N328,710,337.50 (Three Hundred and Twenty Eight Million, Seven Hundred and Ten Thousand, Three Hundred and Thirty Seven Naira, Fifty Kobo) paid into the GTBank Account Plc No. 0123201507 operated by Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited by OMSA Integrated Services Limited from the transactions involving NNPC Limited allocation of Vacuum Gas Oil for export when you knew that the said sum of N328,710,337.50 constituted proceeds of unlawful activity and you thereby committed an offence contrary Section 18(2) (a) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

Count eleven reads: “That you AHMED ADAMU DIKKO between October, 2022 and May, 2025 did convert the aggregate sum of $77,080 through Ibrahim Isa Yaro which amount did not form part of your known lawful earnings as a former public officer with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.”

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to him.

Thereafter, counsel to the defendant, Okechukwu Ajunwa, SAN urged the court to grant the defendant bail pending the determination of the suit. Iheanacho, however, opposed the bail application.

In his ruling on the bail application, Justice Ekwo granted the defendant bail in the sum of N150,000,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) with a surety who must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court and with a landed property valued at not less than the bail sum. He ordered that the defendant be remanded in the custody of the EFCC pending when he’s able to meet the bail conditions.

The matter was therefore adjourned to October 12, 13 and 14, 2026 for trial.

The post EFCC Arraigns Former MD Of Port Harcourt Refinery for Alleged N1.32bn Money Laundering appeared first on Business Today NG.

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Truecaller clashes with India’s telecom regulator over anti-spam rules

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5 hours ago

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July 9, 2026

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Truecaller has opened a public fight with India’s telecom regulator over rules governing caller ID apps, saying the country’s anti-spam framework is making it harder to protect consumers from unwanted calls in its biggest market.

On Wednesday, CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala (pictured above) took to X to publicly challenge the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), accusing the watchdog of preventing Truecaller from displaying community-reported spam information for calls from the country’s dedicated 1400 and 1600 number series, a restriction he said had enabled abuse of those numbers and eroded trust in legitimate business calls.

The dispute stems from a framework introduced in 2024 under which India’s telecom authorities designated the 1400 and 1600 number series for commercial communications, with businesses using the former for telemarketing calls and the latter for service- and transaction-related calls. TRAI later mandated the migration to the dedicated numbering series, saying the move would help consumers identify legitimate business communications and curb spam and scam calls.

The framework was rolled out amid growing concerns over spam and scam calls in India, one of the world’s largest telecom markets, where regulators and telecom operators have rolled out multiple measures to curb fraudulent communications. Last year, the Indian communications ministry said authorities disconnected more than 2.1 million fraudulent mobile numbers and took action against more than 100,000 entities over the preceding year, underscoring the scale of the challenge.

Jhunjhunwala argued the policy has produced unintended consequences. Citing internal company data, he said consumers have increasingly lost trust in the designated number series, with Truecaller users ignoring 81% of calls from the 1400 series and 79% from the 1600 series over the past eight months. During the same period, users manually blocked 74 million calls from the two number series, while daily blocking actions against 1600-series numbers have more than tripled since October 2025, he said.

Unable to mark those numbers as spam, Truecaller instead introduced a “Frequently Blocked” badge to alert users when a number from the designated series has been blocked by many people.

The unusually public criticism came after Indian business daily The Economic Times reported that TRAI had sought powers under India’s Information Technology Act to take action against caller ID apps such as Truecaller, Hiya, and Whoscall for labeling numbers from the designated 1400 and 1600 series as spam.

TRAI and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which would consider any such proposal, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The dispute comes at a pivotal time for Truecaller, whose core caller ID business has been facing growing regulatory and competitive pressures as the company expands into new products and services. India remains its largest market by a wide margin, with more than 350 million of its 500 million monthly active users based in the country, according to the company.

Jhunjhunwala said Truecaller would share its data with the Indian IT ministry as part of the regulatory process, arguing that any decision on caller ID apps should be evidence-based.

“Penalize the bad actors, not the ones like Truecaller that make a significant positive impact,” he wrote.

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