Nov 26 2011

Lagos Ship Explosion: NIMASA Impounds Oil Barge

By Chiemelie Ezeobi

In order to undertake full and conclusive investigation, authorities of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) may have decided to impound the oil barge identified as MT Britiana-U, which exploded and killed two persons at the Leventis Bus Stop, Marina, Lagos on Monday. There are suspicions that the barge exploded out of negligence and recklessness, which caused the fire.

Deputy Director, NIMASA, Captain Warredi Enisuoh

Registered as no 284481, Brittania-U Nigeria Limited, the owner of the barge, is an indigenous and integrated company incorporated on December 4, 1995 under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Brittania-U group also diversified in 2008 into a downstream sister company known as Nextee Oil & Gas Trading Company Ltd. This was to increase indigenous participation in the downstream sector and as such started its petroleum products marketing operations.

According to a security source, who spoke to THISDAY on conditions of anonymity, some government officials had visited the dockyard Thursday to see the carnage.

Their actions, he said, stemmed from the fact that the explosion was said to have been caused by a welder who was working with flames onboard the ship.

THISDAY checks revealed that the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the group is one Mrs. Uju Ifejika. Her online introduction reads, “I am Mrs. Uju Ifejika, the Chairperson and CEO of the Brittania-U group, the first of my gender in the Nigerian Energy & Petroleum sector.

“We are an emerging Energy & Petroleum group, achieving laudable milestones in the industry and building partnerships that keep us on the win-win path.”

The company started business as a medium general enterprise and contracting company with the vision to become an integrated and profitable Nigerian oil and gas company.

According to Ifejika, the company’s mission is embedded in being a business entity that is professional, ethical, with clear business objectives, growth, profitability as well as customer focused.

She noted that since petroleum is their core business, starting from exploration to production, refining, trading, supply and distribution, and marketing, they would respond to local challenges, but act global, to meet international standards of business and operation.

However, their objective is to contribute to the nation’s value creation for the well-being of the people through “better quality of life and ensuring a safe environment” amongst others have been questioned with Monday’s explosion that culminated in the death of many people and injury of many others.

But when contacted, Deputy Director, NIMASA, Captain Warredi Enisuoh, debunked the claim.

According to him, “investigations are on-going. So, I did not impound any vessel. I just said they should co-operate with us but if they do not, then there will be trouble.

“But for now, we have no reason to impound the vessel and that is because it is a local vessel and so within our reach anytime we want to go onboard to clarify issues.

“If it were a foreign vessel, then we would impound it because there is every possibility of its absconding from the dockyard to avoid the penalties of their actions.”

Disclosing the intent of their inspection, he said: “We did not go there to blame anybody rather to discuss on ways to prevent future cases like this from happening.

“Although investigations are ongoing, we have to come out with a plan that would outline the lessons that we have learnt from this incident and then finally make the required changes.”

When THISDAY went back to the scene of the incident Thursday, tight security was mounted outside to prevent anyone from entering the premises.

One of the security guards, who spoke to THISDAY in confidence, said the owner of the ship was around to take the NIMASA team around the entire ship for inspection. However, all efforts by THISDAY to talk to some of the victims in the explosion proved abortive.

At the United Bank for Africa’s (UBA) parking lot where about seven cars were affected in the Monday explosion, only three were left behind. Checks revealed that the shipping company had agreed to pay for the cost of repairs of the affected cars.

They cars are: a Black-coloured Honda Civic with registration number IZ10AAA; an Ash-coloured Honda car with registration number MQ557KJA; and a Green-coloured Toyota Carina car with registration number CX355MUS.

At a glance, the Honda Civic and the Ash Honda car were terribly damaged by a heavy banister that was said to have flown off the ship at the impact of the explosion.

THISDAY met some mechanics at the site estimating the amount of damage done to the cars and what it would cost to repair the destroyed cars.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the mechanics told THISDAY that they were contracted by the shipping company to estimate the cost of repairs and then proceed to fix them.

He said: “The shipping company does not want to prolong the matter. That is why they accepted to fix the affected cars without any hassles but the other Honda car cannot be repaired.

“They have to buy a new one for the owner. They can afford to do so because the car in question is not expensive. At the least, it would cost about N450, 000 to buy a fairly-used car of the same make.”

Some of the victims whose cars were burnt declined to speak to THISDAY. According to them, they were already in talks with the shipping company and so; did not see the need to drag the issue.

Re-living Monday’s experience, some of the eyewitnesses said that when they heard the violent blast and the subsequent tremor, they all fled for their lives. They noted that their first thought was that the dreaded religious sect known as Boko Haram had invaded the state with their deadly blasts.

Despite claims that two people lost their lives in the inferno, the General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said only one person died in the incident. .

Others that sustained injuries, he said, were rushed to the hospital for treatment where they are receiving adequate care. He blamed the explosion on the leakage of gas from some of the cylinders aboard the vessel as it was undergoing repairs.

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Nov 26 2011

15 Killed in Fresh Fighting in Jos, Robbers Kill 12 in Sagamu

By Seriki Adinoyi, Sheriff Balogun and Segun James

It was a day of multiple tragedies Thursday as several bloody incidents were recorded in Plateau, Ogun and Bayelsa States. Starting from Jos, Plateau State where violence erupted again resulting in the killing of 15 persons, to Sagamu, Ogun State, where robbers raided several banks with impunity and killed a dozen persons, down to Bayelsa State where fire razed the oil facility of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

Plateau State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mr. Abraham Yiljap

In the Jos incident, the fragile peace of the city was again broken Thursday, leaving at least 15 persons, including a Police Staff Officer, Dalyop Pinda, dead and several others severely injured. Two churches, an Islamic school and over 20 buildings were also razed at Barkin Ladi, the council headquarters of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Meanwhile, to curtail the mayhem and possible reverberation and indeed the ensuing tension in the area, the Special Task Force (STF) in charge of security in the state has imposed a 24-hour curfew in the area.

The state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mr. Abraham Yiljap, while briefing the press after assessing the level of damage, said the actual cause of the mayhem had not been ascertained. He however disclosed that over 60 persons had been arrested and were currently being interrogated, adding that the law would take its course. He said but for the rapid deployment of security forces the crisis would have escalated.

He said: “We are all the more pained by the fact that these are people that have been living together peacefully for more than decades,” adding that government was taking steps towards providing relief for the displaced persons.
This rage, a resident of the area said, was not unconnected with the killing of three Berom youths who were returning from Barkin Ladi to their village of Rasat last Sunday, by persons suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.

Since then, there has been tension in the area. The security personnel did not mount surveillance in the area, after the earlier killings. The Beroms in reprisal reportedly went after the herdsmen resulting in the death of four others believed to be Fulanis.

But the full-blown mayhem, according to the resident, broke out yesterday morning with the killing of three Muslim youths and burning of the Islamic school in the area. The Hausa/Fulani teamed up and wreaked havoc on the Beroms and their churches.

Giving an account, Chairman of Barkin Ladi Local Government, Mr. Emmanuel Loman, said it took the spirited effort of riot policemen to save the Kassa Agric Training Centre, which was almost razed by the rioters, adding: “One of the mobile police was even shot”.

He added that the Hausa Muslims had remobilised at Kura and Gashish to launch another onslaught on the natives when the security forces dislodged them.

A serving councillor with the council, Mr. Pam Choji Pam, lost his four children who were attacked and killed in their house. Corps members serving with the council have all been rescued to the NYSC Secretariat in Jos.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Jacob Apev, and the STF spokesman, Captain Charles Ekeocha, said they were still trying to compile data on the casualty and the level of damage to properties.

But in Sagamu, Ogun State, the advent of Christmas season may have upped the scale of violence on the quiet town with armed robbers Thursday, literally seizing the town for hours as they raided bank after bank along Sabo area of the town. By the time the town was recovered from the robbers, 12 persons had been killed.

Most of the banks robbed were new generation banks, although the security men in one of the banks resisted the firepower of the robbers thus repelling them. .

The armed robbers and the local vigilante group were engaged in a gun duel which left about 12 persons including a policeman dead and about five others injured.

The robbers had reportedly stormed the Sabo area of Akarigbo road to rob commercial banks, but a stiff resistance led to the face-off, which paralysed activities for several hours in the town.

It was gathered that the robbers, whose number could not be confirmed, had arrived the area at about 10.00 am to rob the banks after previous attempts had failed, but the robbers allegedly came with sophisticated weapons which overwhelmed the local vigilante group. A stray bullet hit the driver of the vigilante group and a policeman, while others sustained injuries.

THISDAY gathered from a resident, Mr. Taiwo Joseph, that “the development has brought panic to Sagamu. Their gunshots were deafening and it was as if Sagamu was under siege. We learnt that they escaped through Iperu/Ibadan road with little or no resistance by the Police”.

The state’s PPRO, Muiywa Adejobi, however, said there was no information yet on the robbery, adding that residents confirmed the robbery and had decided to keep indoors.

But less bloody was the havoc in Bayelsa State where SPDC recorded a massive fire outbreak on its facility. Two weeks ago, there was oil spillage at its Ikarama facility in Okordia area of Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.

THISDAY gathered that the trunk line feeding the facility exploded forcing the people of Ikarama and Rumuekpe communities to scamper for safety as the fire spread towards their vicinity.

A similar fire outbreak had forced Shell to shut in production at the facility two weeks ago. But the SPDC Public Relation Affairs Manager, Mr. Precious Okologbo, alleged that the spill was an act of sabotage caused by illegal third party interference on the trunk line.

Okologbo said the line had been shut down following a leak caused by illegal third party interference on November 8, 2011, a situation that the company rectified and repaired before Wednesday’s spillage.

He insisted that “there is no crude on the line, no carbon on the affected line, the fire would not last”.

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Nov 26 2011

CBN Suggests Tenure Limit for Directors of Quoted Coys

By Emmanuel Otaru and Obinna Chima

Just like it did recently for commercial banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Thursday advised the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to limit the tenure of directors in other quoted companies in the country.

CBN Deputy Governor, Financial Systems Stability, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, made this call in Lagos, while making a speech at the annual roundtable on corporate governance, tagged: “Taking Responsibility for the new Code Corporate Governance,” organised by the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria.

Part of the tenure limit that was introduced by the banking sector regulator last year, stipulates maximum 10-year limit for chief executive officers of commercial banks. The policy is part of the blueprint on reforming the banking industry.

Moghalu said: “We think that there should be a clear limit of tenure for directors in quoted companies, just like we did in banks. Risk management fails, where there is lack of corporate governance.”

Corporate governance is the major issue in Nigeria. It is one of those things that stand before our progress as a nation, in both the private and public sectors. “That is why the CBN made it a focal issue. Even within the CBN, we have tried to address our own corporate governance issues internally.”

Moghalu who charged the SEC to step up its regulatory also urged the apex capital market regulator to ensure that the code of corporate governance for quoted companies is enforced. He emphasised that part of the reforms carried out in the banking sector was to ensure compliance of banks to its code of corporate governance that was prepared in 2006.

According to him, there was need for the SEC to be more robust in its enforcement of compliance with its corporate governance code.

Moghalu added: “In a country where there is little respect for ethics, guides may not be enough. We know about all the exuberances and sharp practices in not just the banks but in a lot of the quoted companies.”

He pointed out that despite the responsibility of shareholders to ensure that companies comply with the code SEC must also monitor and enforce compliance.

“The CBN has taken a very proactive approach in this matter as regards the banks. We have said it is good for you to reflect if you have complied with the code of corporate governance but we are also baring our minds to our responsibility to enforce the code.”

The SEC code places responsibility of ensuring compliance on the board of directors, the shareholders.

“SEC should be the third layer in my view that should make sure that they have done what they are supposed to do. Of course, the market is also supposed to play its role by sanctioning those companies that have not complied,” the regulator added

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