₦airaland Forum

Seven persons were reportedly killed on Saturday in Potiskum, Yobe State. The deceased persons include a former Area Comptroller of Nigeria Custom Service, Waziri Ajiya, and his son Dr. Ibrahim Waziri, as well as a retired ASP of Police, Mohammed Haruna, his wife and three children. Haruna and his family were killed at Sabon Layi area of Potiskum, after gunmen trailed him to his house.

Ajiya and his son were both shot dead in a forest along Gombe road after they were abducted from their residence in Nahuta Quarters, Potiskum, the state capital. Patrick Egbuniwe, the state commissioner of Police, confirmed the killings. "The hoodlums are trying to adopt the same operation like the one they did in Damaturu which we stopped," he said.

The commissioner said efforts were being made to track the assailants, adding that the force had restrategised in order to curtail serial killings in the state. A resident who spoke on condition of anonymity said the gunmen stormed Ajiya's house at about 1:30 a.m., kidnapped him and his son and took them to a forest along Gombe road where they were killed.

"His family communicated to us around 2:00 a.m. that some gunmen kidnapped Waziri and Ibrahim," the source said.

The source further revealed that the Comptroller mistook the assailants for security operatives that were conducting search, and came out to enquire for their mission when he was kidnapped. "He pleaded with them to allow him talk to his son, instead they took the son with them when they confirmed that he was a medical doctor," he said.

The deceased persons were laid to rest according to Islamic rites around 12 p.m.

Geometric Power Systems Limited has announced that its 140 megawatts (MW) Aba Integrated Power Project (IPP) will come on stream in the first quarter of 2013.

With a financial outlay of about $500 million, the project which is expected to come on stream between January and February 2013, will, according to the project managers, guarantee steady electricity to the industrial city of Aba and its environs.

A management team from the firm, comprising the Project Manager, Group Five of South Africa, Johan Riekert; Project Manager Pauwels/EMO Africa, Slobodan Bajkovic; and Project Manager, ABB/GEC Power Lines, Joseph Otejere, stated that the first phase of the power project is nearing completion.

“This is an integrated power project because it has a power plant and distribution network where we also have sub-stations, power line as well as gas pipeline all embedded in the project,” said Riekert. “Phase one of the project has 140MW and phase two is 540MW which is to serve as additional unit to the existing one while the phase three is 100MW which will be come later.”

The project team also explained that Aba has three sub-stations and that sufficient electricity could not be delivered to the people because of inadequate evacuation infrastructure. This, they said, informed the decision to build another sub-station to complement the existing ones in Osisioma, Factory Road and Port Harcourt Road.

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Power Plants Buyers Named

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has announced the preferred bidders for five power generation plants as part of its plans to privatise Nigeria's electricity sector.

Making the announcement at a ceremony in Abuja, the BPE revealed that a consortium, which includes Transcorp, was the highest bidder for the Ughelli Power company, offering $300 million.

Geregu Power plant was won by a bid of $132 million which was made by a group that includes Forte Oil, a petrol firm majority-owned by billionaire oil tycoon Femi Otedola.

Bolanle Onagoruwa, the BPE's Director-General, who gave assurances of the Bureau's commitment to international best practices the opening of the financial bids for the sale of five electricity generation companies, said that eight companies bided for the generation companies located in Geregu, Ughelli, Sapele, Shiroro and Kainji.

BPE paid two local television stations to transmit the event live in order to bolster public and investor confidence in the privatisation exercise, which had been trailed by controversy.

According to the BPE DG, three bidders; Feniks Electricity, Transcorp and Wood Rock/Symbion Power/Medea/PSL/Thomasen and Amperion Power Distribution Ltd, were deemed qualified by the NCP for Ughelli Power Plc.

For Sapele Power Plc, CMEC/EURAFRIC Energy and JBN-Nestoil Power Services were the bidders, while Amperion Power Distribution Ltd emerged for Geregu Power Plc. Also Mainstream Energy Solutions bidded for the Kainji Power Plc while North-South Power was listed for Shiroro Power Plc.

On Afam Power Plc, the sixth generation company put up for sale, the privatisation agency said no bidder was technically qualified for the company.

The World Bank, USAID, Britain's Department for International Development (DFID) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) sent observers to the event which was also observed by representatives of the EFCC and the ICPC.