Suspected pirates have abducted at least five passengers along the Port Harcourt-Bille waterways in Rivers State, taking them to an unknown destination. Confirming the incident to newsmen, the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria)  said the attack occurred over the weekend and was reported by members of its One Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters in the Bille community area. Executive Director of YEAC, Dr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, said the victims were traveling by boat from Port Harcourt to Bille Kingdom in Degema Local Government Area when the attack occurred. The pirates, reportedly armed and operating a speedboat equipped with a 200HP engine, intercepted the passenger boat and abducted five individuals. As of Monday morning when the incident was reported to our centre, the whereabouts of the kidnapped passengers remained unknown, Dr. Fyneface said The organization has called on the Rivers State Police Command and other relevant security agencies to act swiftly to secure the safe release of the abducted passengers. It also urged Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), Sole Administrator of the state, to prioritize security and the protection of lives and property along the waterways. Confirming the incident to LIB, the spokesperson of the Rivers state police command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, saidYes, the incident did occur. The Commissioner of Police has mandated the Officer-in-Charge of the Marine Unit, along with his team and the Tactical Team Commander, to ensure that the victims are rescued unharmed and that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are apprehended and brought to justice.” The post Five passengers abducted by pirates on Rivers waterways appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.

The Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and Abia State governor, Alex Otti, have called for a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting amid leadership changes within the party.

The crucial meeting is set to take place in Abuja on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.

A notice issued by Obi and Otti, signed by Ibrahim Umar, spokesman for the Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR), confirmed the development.

“The NEC meeting will be followed concurrently by an interactive town hall engagement with major stakeholders and other organs of the party at Transcorp Hilton,” Umar stated.

The meeting will bring together key Labour Party figures, including the 2023 vice-presidential candidate, serving and former senators, as well as House of Representatives members and candidates from the last general election.

All members of the National Caretaker Committee (NTC), representatives of the NLC/TUC Political Commission, and former governorship candidates still in the party are also expected.

This gathering follows last week’s Supreme Court ruling, which ousted the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC).

The court’s decision has created a power vacuum in the party, raising questions about its future leadership structure.

With Obi and Otti taking the lead in summoning the NEC, the meeting is expected to set the tone for Labour Party’s next steps as it navigates this internal crisis.

Billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman, a staunch President Trump ally, has warned the world is on the brink of a self-induced economic nuclear winter as he begged the Republican leader to pause his sweeping tariffs.The President has an opportunity on Monday to call a time out and have the time to execute on fixing an unfair tariff system. Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down, Ackman wrote in a lengthy X post on Sunday night.May cooler heads prevail. Ackman, who endorsed Trumps run for President, issued the stark warning as he insisted the US leaders decision to enforce the 10% tax on imports was quickly losing the confidence of business leaders worldwide. The country is 100% behind the president on fixing a global system of tariffs that has disadvantaged the country. But, business is a confidence game and confidence depends on trust, he wrote. President [Trump] has elevated the tariff issue to the most important geopolitical issue in the world, and he has gotten everyones attention. So far, so good. And yes, other nations have taken advantage of the U.S. by protecting their home industries at the expense of millions of our jobs and economic growth in our country, he continued. But, by placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business, and as a market to invest capital.  The country is 100% behind the president on fixing a global system of tariffs that has disadvantaged the country. But, business is a confidence game and confidence depends on trust, he wrote. President [Trump] has elevated the tariff issue to the most important geopolitical issue in the world, and he has gotten everyones attention. So far, so good. And yes, other nations have taken advantage of the U.S. by protecting their home industries at the expense of millions of our jobs and economic growth in our country, he continued.But, by placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business, and as a market to invest capital. Calling for a 90-day time-out, Ackman urged Trump to renegotiate the unfair asymmetric tariff deals. He warned, too, that launching an economic nuclear war would only see businesses grind to a halt, as well as consumers closing up their wallets. What CEO and what board of directors will be comfortable making large, long-term, economic commitments in our country in the middle of an economic nuclear war? he said. When markets crash, new investment stops, consumers stop spending money, and businesses have no choice but to curtail investment and fire workers. And it is not just the big companies that will suffer. Small and medium size businesses and entrepreneurs will experience much greater pain. Almost no business can pass through an overnight massive increase in costs to their customers. The consequences for our country and the millions of our citizens who have supported the president in particular low-income consumers who are already under a huge amount of economic stress are going to be severely negative. This is not what we voted for, he added.Ackmans plea came as Trumps sweeping tariff plans continued to hammer global financial markets on Monday after he warned foreign governments they would have to pay a lot of money to lift the levies that he called medicine.The post Billionaire and President Trump ally, Bill Ackman warns that the world is on brink of self-induced economic nuclear winter, begs him to pause tariffs appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.