German police said Wednesday they had arrested 11 suspected members of a Nigerian mafia group behind a large-scale dating scam.

The Black Axe gang was involved internationally in “multiple areas of criminal activity”, with a focus in Germany on romance scams and money-laundering, Bavarian police said in a statement.

The dating trick was a “modern form of marriage fraud”, police said.

“Using false identities, the fraudsters for example signalled their intention to marry and in the course of further contact repeatedly demand money under various pretexts,” police said.

The money was subsequently transferred to Black Axe in Nigeria “via financial agents”, authorities said.

In the process, the gang used a “commodity-based money laundering” scheme where products, often with a seeming “charitable purpose” were bought and delivered to Nigeria.

Some 450 cases of romance scamming had been reported in the region of Bavaria in 2023 alone, with the damages rising to 5.3 million euros ($5.7 million), police said.

The suspects, who all held Nigerian citizenship and were aged between 29 and 53, were arrested in nationwide raids on Tuesday.

Law enforcement swooped on 19 properties, including both homes and asylum shelters, police said.

The Black Axe gang had “strict hierarchical structures under leadership in Nigeria” operating different territorial units, police said.

The group had a “significant influence” on politics and public administrations, in particular in Nigeria.

Globally, the gang’s main areas of operation were “human-trafficking, fraud, money-laundering, prostitution and drug-trafficking”.

Black Axe operated under the cover of the Neo Black Movement of Africa, an ostensibly charitable organisation used as “camouflage” for the gang’s structures.

The action against Black Axe was the first of its kind in Germany, police said.

AFP

1. There appears to be no end to the political spat in Rivers State as two redeployed commissioners — Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor and Isaac Kamalu turned in their resignation letters on Wednesday. Adangor was on Tuesday moved from the Justice Ministry where he served as Commissioner and Attorney-General to Special Duties and Kamalu from Finance to the Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment ministry.

2. Telecom operators yesterday renewed their push for an end-user tariff hike to reflect the cost of doing business. The operators, acting under the aegis of Association of Licensed Telecom Companies of Nigeria, ALTON, and Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, in a joint statement asked for a cost-reflective tariff of services.

3. Should the proposed Executive bill be passed, politicians found guilty of tax evasion will be barred from seeking elective offices. The plan was made known yesterday by chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele.

4. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday handed over 14 properties seized from some companies to the Enugu State Government. The assets were initially forfeited to the Federal Government in the course of the investigation of former governor Chimaroke Nnamani.

5. A Consumer Credit Scheme to put money in the pockets of Nigerians, boost manufacturing and stimulate economic growth has been rolled out by the Federal Government. Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale yesterday announced the beginning of the plan following its approval by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

6. Many filling stations were closed in Abuja and about five other states on Wednesday as the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, caused heavy queues at the few outlets that dispensed the product.

7. The Ondo Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, will conduct its governorship primary today (Thursday) ahead of the November 16 governorship election in the state. The party has seven governorship aspirants who will be jostling for the votes of the 627 delegates to pick the governorship ticket.

8. The Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps has arrested two traders when its operatives demolished shops built around Akiogun Road, Oniru in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state. This was disclosed in a post on the official X handle of the Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on Wednesday.

9. Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Wednesday called on judges to stop the misuse of ex parte orders, especially in political cases. He said it was imperative for the National Judicial Council (NJC) to exercise stringent oversight to curb the misuse of ex parte order.

10. Leader of the Ilana Omo Oodua, Professor Banji Akintoye has disagreed with leaders of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, on restructuring, saying the Yoruba Nation wants self-determination not restructuring. He said this when he featured on Arise television’s ‘The Morning Show’.

After releasing the FY 2022 financial statements, Oando Plc has followed up with a press statement to address its net loss of N81.2 billion incurred in 2022, citing militancy and pipeline vandalism as major culprits.

Despite reporting a gross turnover of N1.99 trillion during the fiscal year, the group posted a loss after tax of N81.2 billion, a significant downturn from the N39.2 billion profit after tax posted in 2021.

Speaking on the result, Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive of Oando Plc, noted, “The heightened militancy and pipeline vandalism acts within the Niger Delta region dealt a substantial blow to our upstream operations, resulting in a marked reduction in our crude production volumes due to the protracted shut-ins for repair following each incidence.

“This was further compounded by a major gas plant fire incident which also necessitated a lengthy downtime.

“Furthermore, a rise in our net interest expense due to increased interest rates on several of our major facilities in line with global rates increases, also contributed to our Loss after Tax position.

“In response, we have put in place definitive measures to bolster our production and cash inflows towards ensuring a speedy return to profitability by collaborating with our partners to institute a comprehensive security framework aimed at permanently curbing the persistent pipeline vandalism whilst concurrently exploring inorganic growth opportunities to increase our reserves and production capabilities.

“We have also implemented a strategic restructuring of our key facilities to ensure they align with our cash flow dynamics.”

Pipeline vandalism cost Nigeria N471 billion in 5 Years Economic implication of oil theft in Nigeria.

Theft and vandalism of oil installations is a major problem plaguing the oil and gas sector in Nigeria. The crime of oil theft has had a negative impact on the national economy and the business of local and international oil companies operating in the upstream sector.

Although there is no precise figure to quantify the financial impact of oil theft on the Nigerian economy, a study conducted by Dimkpa et al. (2023) estimates that Nigeria lost approximately $33.6 billion in oil revenue to oil theft between 2019 and 2022.

A significant economic implication for Nigeria has been the consistent decline in oil production. Nigeria’s average oil production in 2022 was at 1.45 million barrels per day, an almost 1-million-barrel decline from the 2.4 million barrels per day produced by Nigeria in 2012.

In 2022, Oando’s total upstream production amounted to 20,703 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/day). This comprised 4,939 barrels per day of crude oil, 472 barrels per day of natural gas liquids, and 15,292 barrels per day of natural gas.

This figure represents a 22.7% decline from the 26,775 boe/d output reported by the group in 2021.

According to the company’s press statement, the decline in production was attributed to downtimes caused by shut-ins for repairs and sabotage activities.

In 2022, Oando Plc sold approximately 21.8 million barrels of crude oil, representing a 25% increase from the 17.4 million barrels sold in 2021. The group also sold about 1.94 million metric tonnes of refined petroleum, representing a 101% increase from the 962,371 metric tonnes sold in 2021.

Despite recording a decline in oil output, the group was able to sell an increased amount of crude oil due to its contracts with the then Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), ultimately contributing to its 148% revenue growth in 2022.

In 2022, Oando sold crude oil at an average realized oil price of $101.55/barrel and a gas price of $14.74/Boe, compared to 2021’s prices of $62.14/barrel for crude oil and $9.95/Boe for gas.

OMLs 60 to 63 gulped about $77.7 million in capital expenditure (CAPEX) from Oando, while OML 56 and OML 13 gulped about $22.6 million and $200,000 respectively. The group also spent $1.4 million in capital expenditure (CAPEX) on other assets.

As of 2022, Oando owned 20% stake in OMLs 60 to 63, as Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) also owned a 20% stake.

However, Oando is in the process of purchasing NAOC’s 20% stake in the oil fields, which will push its stake up to 40%.