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  The Supreme Court has ruled today that two Nigerian communities, of more than 50,000 people combined, can bring their legal claims for clean-up and compensation against Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS) and its Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC). The Supreme Court ruling comes just two weeks after the Dutch Court of Appeal’s landmark ruling against RDS in litigation brought by four Nigerian farmers and Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) against Shell which held RDS liable for pollution caused by its Nigerian subsidiary and ordered it to improve its pipeline network. In this latest case, the UK Supreme Court overturned a split decision of the Court of Appeal and held that the two cases brought by the Ogale and Bille communities against Royal Dutch Shell are arguable and can proceed in the English courts. The villagers say they have suffered systematic and ongoing oil pollution for years because of Shell’s operations in Nigeria, ...

  ...to relocate College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences to Iseyin ...as gov receives report of state's negotiation committee on ownership of institution The Oyo State Governor, 'Seyi Makinde, on Thursday, disclosed that the state will commence the push to make the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, a conventional university. The governor, who spoke while receiving a report of the Oyo State negotiating committee on the institution, added that the government will equally move the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences of the institution to Iseyin. He said that the Iseyin campus will open this year. According to him, following the signing of the LAUTECH, Ogbomoso 2020 Bill into law, the state would apply to necessary authorities to change the university from a technology university to a conventional university so that it could be strengthened and enabled to handle other courses outside the technology bracket. A statement by the Chief Press Secr...

  A woman has been arrested for allegedly brutalising her son and locking him up for months. The mum identified as Peace Onyebuchi was arrested by the gender unit of Ajangbandi Police Station in Lagos State. Onyebuchi had the boy from a previous relationship but is currently married to another man who is in The Gambia in search of greener pastures. It was alleged by Onyebuchi's neighbours that the mum started beating the young boy since he was four years old. They added that the recent assault lasted for close to two hours, causing the boy to sustain several injuries on his head, face, shoulders, and back. The incident which occurred at Ekunpa, Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos, was reported to a human rights group, Advocates for Children and Vulnerable People's Network, by a concerned neighbour. According to the publication, the neighbour said, "This boy is six years old, his name is Divine. He doesn't attend school anymore. Presently, Divine is looked up in a room b...

  Operations Safe Haven (OPSH) has arrested a suspected kidnap kingpin, Adamu Uwar, who allegedly abducted a woman in Plateau state. The Commander of the OPSH, Major General Chukwuemeka Okonkwo, who paraded the suspects alongside others on Friday, said Uwar had lured one Zuwaria Mohammed, to Guratop in Rayfield area of Jos North under the pretence that he had some goods to sell to her. When she arrived, he held her captive, contacted her husband, Rabiu Mohammed and demanded a ransom of 2 million naira from for her release. The victim's husband reported the matter to OPSH and was advised to agree to pay the ransom. "The husband reported to the OPSH and was advised to agree to pay the ransom and a collection point was agreed. Own troops stormed the location, arrested the abductor and rescued the victim." he explained. The OPSH added that the kidnapper had been arrested on two occasions in the past and is on the wanted list of the Police Anti Kidnapping Squad. More photos be...

  President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the establishment of a Public Private Partnership styled Infrastructure company named Infra-Co with an initial seed capital of N1 Trillion. It is envisaged that, over time, the entity will grow to N15 Trillion in assets and capital. Infra-Co will be one of the premier infrastructure finance entities in Africa and will be wholly dedicated to Nigeria’s infrastructure development. The entity has been developed with concept designs from the National Economic Council (NEC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria. The President had asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, to chair a Steering Committee tasked with setting up the company. The initial seed capital for the entity will come from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA, and the Africa Finance Corporation. The board of Infra-Co will be chaired by the Central Bank Governor and include the Managing Director of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, Pre...

  *FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WORKS AND HOUSING Press Release *Work progressing steadily on Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Road Project - Minister* Minister of State for Works and Housing, Engineer Abubakar D. Aliyu (FNSE) has said that construction work is progressing steadily on the ongoing reconstruction of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Road and would be completed and delivered on time. The Minister stated this on Thursday 11th February, 2021 while inspecting the project to assess the progress of the ongoing work. “We are satisfied with the quality of work going on and we are working to increase the pace of the work. You can see that work is going on simultaneously on all sections of both lanes of the dual carriage 375km long road from Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria- Kano" he said He explained that the work was initially for rehabilitation but now full reconstruction work was being done and this had delayed the job. He said: “We are fully committed both from the President Muhammadu Buhari, the Honourable...