The 13 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Calabar has denied any involvement in the occasional harassments at the Abonita Cocoa Estate in Etung Local Government Area of the state.Spokesperson for the brigade, Capt. Jimoh Jamaila, said that there was no official deployment of soldiers to the farm, nor was any attached to individuals in the estate.

Speaking with newsmen in Calabar, on Wednesday, Jamaila challenged those alleging the involvement of the army personnel to come forward with their identities. According to her, the army will be excited, if the affected allottees raising the alarm can identify the soldiers in question.The management of the estate had been a source of contention between the Cross River Government and the family of Mbu Liku.The Liku’s family is laying claim to the ownership of the estate, insisting that the land belonged to their late father.Report says that the dispute over ownership of the estate is pending in several courts in the state.The present administration of Sen. Bassey Otu, however, disregarded the claim and allocated the estate to some farmers.Some of the farmers last week accused the Liku’s family of using soldiers to beat and chase them away from their farms, and harvesting their farm produce.The allottees, which included Messrs Joseph Ekong, Duke Njor, Boniface, Nic Ntui, Clement Isong-Amba, and Etta Roland, alleged that soldiers had on several occasions assaulted and harassed them on the orders of Liku.Ntui, who spoke on behalf of the other allottees, claimed that the soldiers, reportedly accompanying Liku, have been preventing them from accessing their farms, which they “legitimately paid for and acquired from the State Government”.Ntui further alleged that armed soldiers usually stormed the estate, intimidating and chasing them away, and allowing Liku to harvest their cocoa.“There’s already an existing ruling in suit No: HM/73/2020. And Dismissal in Suit No: HC/MSC 24/2024, an action by way of prerogative orders of mandamus and prohibition,” Ntui said.Meanwhile, the State Security Adviser (SSA), Maj.-Gen. Okoi Obono (rtd.) confirmed that Liku used soldiers at the Achufa, Ajassor Mission, and Etomi checkpoints to intimidate the farmers.“Mr Mbu Liku should be warned to desist from eliciting the services of soldiers or security agencies to further his negative tendencies immediately,” Obono said.However, Liku denied the allegation, saying that at no time did he engage the services of any soldier to physically assault, intimidate, or harass a fellow farmer as claimed by some of the allottees.He contended that the allottees were the ones blackmailing him for their selfish interest. (NAN)

The General Manager, Corporate Services, NLNG, Mr Ekeinde Ohiwerei, says Nigeria is 10 years behind in renewable energy adoption, adding that its energy sector emits 13.3 billion tons of gas yearly.Ohiwerei noted this during a panel discussion at the IoT West Africa Data Centre, Cloud Expo, Power and Water annual conference in Lagos on Wednesday.

The theme of the panel discussion was: “The Digital Revolution in Oil and Gas – Advancing Efficiency, Automation and Sustainability. ”Ohiwerei stressed that the country was working hard to reduce emissions.“We have some clear paths to reducing emissions: one is to control the emissions, the other is to reduce it.“We also need a lot of work on climate change. We need to invest in things like gas streams and some other resources,’’ he said.Ohiwerei noted that there were opportunities to become smarter about electricity management, particularly in embedded infrastructure.“The next 10 years will be crucial in shaping the future of renewable energy and Artificial Intelligence in sustainability in the nation.“We have potential for significant progress in reducing emissions and promoting efficient energy use,” the NLNG boss said.Ohiwerei added that the footprints of renewable energy was sometimes not very apparent.He noted that manufacturing was finding huge applications in both environmental and technological aspects of renewable energy.Also speaking at the panel discussion, Mr Alexey Ushakov, Business Development Manager, Cummins Inc., emphasised the need to control emissions and transition to sustainable fuels to mitigate environmental impact.“My take on it will be, first of all, we need to control emissions,” he said.Ushakov said that his organisation embedded an emissions reduction strategy in its system in 2013, with a goal to achieve zero emissions by 2030.He said: “We will be trying to control and reduce emissions to a minimum in 2030. And this emission zero, it’s called, we are going to zero emissions.”He highlighted the importance of shifting from diesel engines to sustainable fuels like Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils (HVOs) and multi-fuel synthetic diesel engines, which produce fewer emissions.Ushakov noted that alternative technologies like batteries and solar panels had potential, but also posed challenges.“The second way is much more, I would say, harder for us, for humanity because you need to always think backwards to produce this much of batteries and solar panels,” he said.Ushakov emphasised the need for a balanced approach, combining emission control with sustainable fuel solutions.“We need to mix and blend all these two types and move forward,” he said.Ushakov also highlighted the role of analytics in finding solutions, saying “Analytics comes from the big data. The more data we use, the more ways we can figure it out.”Other energy and technology sector experts on the panel highlighted the future of technology and sustainability in various industries, emphasising the importance of Artificial Intelligence, data analytics, and renewable energy.They said that industries must work together to harness the potential of digital tools and sustainable practices to create a better future.The experts’ discussion centred on how industries could leverage digital tools to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and promote sustainability.NAN reports that the Conference and Exhibition will run from May 13 to May 15. (NAN)

Many small business owners in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), say their businesses are folding up due to epileptic power supply.The residents, especially business owners, spoke to the Newsmen on Wednesday in Abuj.The electricity consumers, who reside in Kubwa and environs, Kuje, Gwagwalada, Aco Estate decried the poor state of power supply in their areas.

According to them, power supply has declined recently compared to how it has been in the past few months. Mrs Amanda Okoye, a Fashion Designer in Kubwa said that the situation was so bad that for weeks she had not been able to meet up with her customers’ demands.“We have not had electricity for close to three days now. I have to depend on generator and getting the fuel to power it is expensive because of the increase in the pump price of the product.“It has been so bad that I have decided to close the business for now till power supply improves in the area.“The situation we face here is close to darkness and this has not been easy with me at all as my customers are complaining seriously and this is not good for my business.“I am appealing to the government and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) to do something about the power situation as a matter of urgency ’’ she said.Mr Collins Osahon a Barber residing at Kubwa said that the situation was getting worse as they do not have power for more than two hours a day.Osahon said that he had to rely on generator to do his business, adding that because of the high cost of fuel, he had increased the cost of barbering a customer’s hair.According to him, sometimes they switch on the light in the night when everyone is asleep and this has reduced patronage which can lead to business folding up.Also speaking, Mr Amos Okoduwa, a Welder residing at Kuje said that electricity was not too regular in his area as it was before.He said; ’’we only have light for four to five hours a day and sometimes they don’t get it for a whole day.“I am appealing to the government to improve power supply to the area to enable me run my business effectively so that I can feed my family,’’ he said.Mrs Comfort Maduka, who operates a cold room in Kuje, FCT also said that electricity was not constant in her area.Maduka said that the government and AEDC should do their best to improve power supply, especially as consumers were paying for the servicesShe said that she had to lock up the cold room because her goods were perishing as she could not afford the high cost of diesel to power her generator‘I am appealing to government to improve power supply so that I can come back to business.” she said.Mr Okon Etim, who runs a laundry service in ACO Estate on Airport Road, said that the light situation in the area wa terrible compared to before.Okon said that the area does not have power supply for more than five to six hours in a day, adding that the light goes off every 20 minutes.”I don’t know what to do so I have to close down my business until I am able to buy a big generator that I can use for the business, he said.The Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu said that the ministry of power remains steadfast in addressing the challenges within Nigeria’s energy sector.“We acknowledge the economic hardships faced by many Nigerians and reaffirm our commitment to stabilising the grid, expanding access, and fostering investor confidence.“Recent reforms, such as the ongoing upgrade of transmission infrastructure and partnerships with renewable energy developers are pivotal to achieving sustainable solutions,” he said.The minister urged Nigerians to continue to support government policies and initiatives.He also called on Nigerians to report illegal activities such as energy theft and tampering with power infrastructure.“Let us also embrace energy-efficient practices to reduce strain on the grid.“As emphasised by President Bola Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda”, collective resilience and patriotism are vital to overcoming national challenges.” he said. (NAN)