In a statement issued by Salamatu F. Jibaniya, Head: (Press & Public Relations Department)Ministry of Steel Development.

The statement reads in part: “The Federal Government of Nigeria through the Honourable Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu who led a Nigerian delegation to Moscow, Russia from 14th – 21st September, 2024, on a working visit, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the original builders of Ajaokuta Steel Plant Messrs, Tyazhpromexport (TPE) and members of their consortium namely; Novostal M and Proforce Manufacturing Limited for the Rehabilitation, Completion and Operation of Ajaokuta Steel Plant (ASP) and National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) in Kogi State, Nigeria.

“The call was accepted by the Russian Federation when a consortium led by Messrs, TPE visited the Steel Plant in Ajaokuta and the Iron Ore Mining site at Itakpe in August, 2024 for preliminary inspections leading to the invitation for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.

“Prince Shuaibu who is driving Mr. President’s mandate for the revitalization, completion and operation of Ajaokuta Steel Plant (ASP) and National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) said this is a bold step towards creating a sustainable base for the industrialization of the Nigeria economy, noting that The revival of the Steel sector will also reduce importation of Steel products into Nigeria which is estimated at over $4billion annually and will help save scarce foreign exchange.

“During the visit, the Nigerian delegation met with the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Mr. Alexey V. Gruzdev and the consortium led by TPE assured the Nigerian Delegation of the readiness of the Consortium to meet the expectations of the MoU with the Nigerian Government.

“The Nigerian delegation led by the Nigeria Minister of Steel also inspected the facilities of Messrs. Novostal M located in Balakovo in the Saratov region.

“The Plant which was in full operation during the visit has an Electric Arc Furnace capacity of 1.2Million metric tonnes of Steel products per annum with a staff strength of 3,900 workers.”

11plc, Total Energies, AA Rano, and other marketers have begun lifting Dangote Petrol from the Nigerian National Company (NNPC) Trading Limited at the rate of N765.99 per litre.

BusinessDay findings showed some petroleum marketers who were able to complete their payment processes on the NNPC trading payment portal commenced the lifting of petrol earlier this week under the existing agreement between marketers and the refinery.

Tunji Oyebanji, managing director, 11Plc, confirmed to BusinessDay on Thursday evening that some marketers have started lifting the products at N765.99 from Dangote Refinery through NNPC, the sole off-taker of product.

“We were among the first marketers to complete the payment on the NNPC portal. We have no direct arrangement with the refinery,” Oyebanji said.

BusinessDay learnt NNPC Retail, 11plc, Total Energies, A.A Rano are among the marketers that have picked up products from the refinery.

He added, “We don’t know the contractual financial arrangement between NNPC and the refinery but what I can confirm is we are buying at N765.99 from NNPC to lift Dangote petrol.”

– Business Day Nigeria

By Walid Saleh and James Mackenzie

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel bombed southern Lebanon on Thursday and said it had thwarted an Iranian-led assassination plot, a day after explosions of Hezbollah radios that came on the heels of blasts in booby trapped pagers, setting the foes hurtling towards war.

The sophisticated attacks on armed group Hezbollah’s communications equipment, which killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000 over two days, sowed disarray in Lebanon, with panicked residents abandoning their mobile phones.

“This isn’t a small matter, it’s war. Who can even secure their phone now? When I heard about what happened yesterday, I left my phone on my motorcycle and walked away,” said Mustafa Sibal on a street near central Beirut.

A distant roar in the skies could be heard in Beirut from what Lebanese state media said was Israeli jets breaking the sound barrier – a sound that has grown increasingly common in recent months.

Israel said its warplanes struck villages in southern Lebanon overnight, and a security source and Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV reported airstrikes near the border resumed on Thursday just after midday.

Hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon’s south. The Lebanese health minister raised the death toll, saying 25 people had been killed and 608 injured in the country’s deadliest day since cross-border fighting erupted between the militants and Israel in parallel with the Gaza war last year.

The previous day, hundreds of pagers – used by Hezbollah to evade mobile phone surveillance – exploded at once, killing 12 people including two children, and injuring more than 2,300.

In a post on X, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the United Nations Security Council to take a firm stand to stop Israel’s “aggression” and “technological war” against his country.

Israel has not commented directly on the booby-trapped walkie-talkies and pagers, but multiple security sources have said the attacks were carried out by its spy agency Mossad.

Israel says its conflict with Hezbollah, like its war in Gaza against Palestinian militant group Hamas, is part of a wider regional confrontation with Iran, which sponsors both groups as well as armed movements in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

On Thursday Israeli security forces announced that an Israeli businessman had been arrested last month after attending at least two meetings in Iran, where he discussed assassinating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the defence minister or the head of the Shin Bet spy agency.

Last week, Shin Bet uncovered what it said was a plot by Hezbollah to assassinate former Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

Israel has been accused of assassinations including a blast in Tehran that killed the leader of Hamas and another in a Beirut suburb that killed a senior Hezbollah commander within hours of each other in July.

Despite the events of the past few days, a spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon said the situation along the frontier had “not changed much in terms of exchanges of fire between the parties”.

“There was an intensification last week. This week it is more or less the same. There are still exchanges of fire. It is still worrying, still concerning, and the rhetoric is high,” the spokesperson, Andrea Tenenti, told Reuters.

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire across the Israeli-Lebanon border in parallel with the war Israel has waged in Gaza against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group whose fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

Tens of thousands of people have had to flee the Israel-Lebanon border area on both sides. Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to return the evacuated Israelis “securely to their homes”.

SHIFTING FOCUS

The Israeli military said its overnight air strikes hit Hezbollah targets in Chihine, Tayibe, Blida, Meiss El Jabal, Aitaroun and Kfarkela in southern Lebanon, as well as a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the area of Khiam.

Israeli media reported that a number of Israeli civilians had been wounded by anti-tank missile fire from Lebanon, but there was no official confirmation.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the war was moving into a new phase, with more resources and military units now being shifted to the northern border.

According to Israeli officials, the forces being deployed there include the 98th Division, an elite formation including commando and paratroop elements that has been fighting in Gaza.

Hezbollah launched missile barrages on Israel on the day after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, and since then there has been a constant exchange of fire that neither side has allowed to escalate into a full-scale war.

However, tens of thousands have been evacuated on both sides of the border, and there has been mounting pressure in Israel for the government to get the evacuees back home.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Walid Saleh in BeirutWriting by Michael GeorgyEditing by Peter Graff)