The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, weekend, stated that the newly re-opened Port Harcourt and Warri refineries are now producing seven million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol per day.

According to an NNPC statement in Abuja, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the NNPC, made this disclosure while re-commissioning the Bonny-Port Harcourt Refinery crude pipeline that had been rehabilitated after being out of use for a number of years due to incessant pipeline vandalism.

According to Kachikwu, Port Harcourt Refining Company now produces five million litres of Premium Motor Spirit while the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company also produces two million liters of petrol per day.

He also noted that the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company is scheduled to start production any moment from now adding that the coming on stream of the three refineries will go a long way to ensure sufficient supply and distribution of petrol across the country.

He stated that the NNPC under his watch has been able to recover the two critical crude supply pipelines which were Escravos to Warri and Bonny to Port Harcourt crude supply pipelines stressing that they are critical to the downstream sector of the industry.

“Port Harcourt is back in production, Warri is back in production, Kaduna as at today is receiving crude and will soon be back in production. Lagos is easing off now from fuel scarcity and Abuja is doing the same thing and once Kaduna begins production, the North will see a lot of improvement,” he explained.

He added that for the first time in many years, the three refineries are going to be working and it will help in a great deal with the issue of fuel supply and distribution across the country.

He maintained that the commercial governance model system was being introduced into the refineries so as to keep them in business and to enable them compete favourably in the hydrocarbon value chain.

“ What we have done is to find a very creative way of bringing investors who will come in, work with our team here who have the skills, reactivate and upgrade facilities in these refineries’’, the minister disclosed.

According to him, the investors will also help us to provide technical support and they will be paid through the flow out of refined products over a period of time which is why we have also changed the refining model such that refineries pay for their crude so it goes into federation account.

He explained that whatever they produce is theirs and they sell to one huge customer which will be both Nigerian Petroleum Marketing Company (NPMC) and the marketers themselves and that enables them to keep the refineries going after the upgrade so that the problem we have in the past of not repairing the refineries will not reoccur.

Kachikwu noted that the misgivings going round that we are trying to hand over refineries is not true saying that the President was very clear from day one, that at this point in time he was not ready for that, so that is not the model we are pursuing now.

Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Sunday expressed sadness over the death of a former Deputy Governor of the State, Alhaji Rafiu Jafojo.

In a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Habib Aruna, Ambode described Jafojo’s death as a great loss to the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Jafojo, who was deputy governor during the administration of Alhaji Lateef Jakande, died on Saturday in his Lagos residence at the age of 80.

According to the statement, Jafojo’s contribution to the development of the state will not be forgotten in a hurry.

“Alhaji Jafojo was part and parcel of an administration during the Second Republic that has been widely applauded across Nigeria for achieving several milestones which are still being made reference to.

“He was an astute politician who was very loyal to the development of the state.

“Together with Alhaji Lateef Jakande, they formed a strong partnership and set the template for this development ,’’ the statement quoted Ambode as saying.

He said, “ Jafojo, in spite of his age, continued to contribute his quota to the development of the state.

“On behalf of the government and good people of Lagos State, I want to express our heartfelt condolence to the family of Alhaji Jafojo on this great and irreparable loss.

“He surely paid his dues and Lagosians will always remember him

“The State Government under my administration will continue to ensure that the ideals he propagated while alive will continue to be upheld and improved upon,’’ Ambode said.

At least 10 people have been killed and several houses burnt in fresh violence that erupted on Friday in Taraba State, witnesses say.

But police said only two people died in the clashes between the Shumo and Wurkum ethnic groups in Karim Lamido Local Government area of the state.

Residents said the violence started around 2:00am Friday when a village, named Shumon Gwaye, belonging to Shumo ethnic group, was attacked by suspected Wurkum youth.

The attack on the Shumo village led to reprisals attacks on Didango, a Wurkum community.

The Police Public Relations Officer for Taraba State, Joseph Kwaji, said only two people were killed in the conflict.

“Some suspected Shumo youth invaded and attacked Didango village,” the PPRO said.

“Two people were killed,” he added

Mr. Kwaji, a deputy superintendent of police, also confirmed that 11 houses had been torched.

A fight between two little girls has resulted in death after one gave the other a dirty slap. Benedicta Acheampong deceased and Beniwaa whose slap allegedly led to the death of her friend are both pupils at the Nana Achiaa LA Primary school, Ghana.

It was gathered that the two little girls had a fight at school which led to the deceased receiving the slap from her friend. After the slap, the deceased started experiencing what could best be described as a mild stroke as part of her [deceased] body failed to function.

According to Etvghana, father of the deceased, one Mr. AK Boampong, when asked what was wrong with his daughter, said that his daughter was slapped by Beniwaa and - after that, she started feeling pains in body until she could not move part of her body.

Things took a dramatic turn as the girl died mysteriously at the hospital after all attempts to save her life failed.

Some have accused the family of Beniwaa of witchcraft due to the bizarre circumstances that led to the death of her friend who she allegedly slapped.

Panic and tension have permeated Okpokwu local government area of Benue State where four persons believed to be natives of Okpoga and Ingle were killed in a clash between a gang of suspected armed robbers and members of the vigilante group in the area.

According to Punch, trouble started when the leader of the gang which was been terrorising Okpoga was arrested and detained at the police headquarters in Makurdi and members of the gang accused the vigilante group of reporting their leader to the police.

It was learnt that members of the gang killed a member of the vigilante group, thereby sparking off retaliation from the vigilante group which allegedly killed a member of the gang even as their leader was still in detention.

On discovering that the deceased member of the vigilante group in Okpoga was a native of a nearby village called Ingle in Edumoga district, trouble started between Okpoga and Ingle people who retaliated as a commercial motorcycle rider found himself in the area.

In all, four persons were killed and many injured between Monday and Wednesday as drums of war began to sound at the boundary between Okpoga, headquarters of Okpokwu local government and Ingle, a stone throw from Okpoga.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Moses Yamu, said four persons were killed and that six police patrol teams have been dispatched to the area to forestall further breakdown of law and rider.

Yamu said the area commander in Otukpo has been directed by the police commissioner to ensure the return of peace and called on those fleeing their abodes to return as the police have brought the situation under control.