An explosion has rocked the Trans-Niger Pipeline at Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The explosion occurred late on Monday night near the Bodo-Bonny Road under construction.

The affected section of the major pipeline is currently on fire, though the exact cause of the explosion remains unknown at this time.

It is not yet clear whether the incident resulted from human interference, especially amid recent threats by militant groups to attack oil installations in the state .

Details to follow….

Members of the Nigerian House of Representatives have donated 705 million naira, amounting to 50% of their basic salaries from July 2024 to December 2024, to support President Bola Tinubu’s initiative to assist vulnerable Nigerians.

The Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, made this known during the breaking of Ramadan fast with the President and the Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa on Monday.

According to him, this was to show Nigerians that members of the House of Representatives also felt the hardship and understood what they were going through.

Gatekeeper reported that following reports of an impending nationwide mass protest by youths, to express displeasure about the hardship in the country, reflected in the high cost of living, food scarcity, unemployment and so on, members of the House of Representatives agreed to donate 50 per cent of their salaries for a period of six months.

They said the donation was to assist the Tinubu administration in addressing the economic situation in the country.

The resolution of the House was sequel to a motion of urgent importance for “An appeal to the proponents of the proposed nationwide protest, to maintain peace, eschew violence and open windows for meaningful engagements with the governments at all levels in order to address their issues.”

The motion was sponsored by the member representing Ifo/Ewekoro Federal Constituency, Ogun State, Ibrahim Isiaka, during plenary.

Speaking at the Presidential Villa on Monday, Abbas announced that the money was ready to be handed over to the Presidency.

“The House decided on our own that we need to do something symbolic to show our concern to the entire people of Nigeria that the predicament they were in, we also felt it.

“And because of that, we took a resolution that from July 2024 to December 2024 will sacrifice 50% of our basic salaries so I will now set that money aside and contribute and donate to you, so that you can also use it to look at the targeted areas in Nigeria where we have vulnerable people who I need of food, shelter, accommodation, clothing and what have you.

“We leave it to you to decide on where and where you want to intervene. But it is a symbolic contribution from the house to show you, as well as show the whole entire nation, that the passage of that particular period was being felt by each and every one of us.

“Your Excellency, I’m happy to inform you that the House contributed the sum of 705 million naira, being the 50% of our monthly salary for the for a period of six months,” he said.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Joe Igbokwe claims that President Bola Tinubu has mounted “his men everywhere” to ensure his re-election in 2027.

In a post on his official Facebook page on Monday, Igbokwe insisted that opposition figures nursing presidential ambition will be defeated by Tinubu.

According to him, Tinubu started planning for his re-election even before he assumed office as Nigerian President.

The post reads, “The truth is that those who want to challenge PBAT in 2027 are not as smart as he is.

“Before he even stepped into Aso Villa he had started planning for 2027. His challengers may not know that the Apamaku had already planted his men everywhere.”

This is coming as opposition figures accused the president of planting crisis in all political parties opposing his government.

According to a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, the leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Labour Party, LP, were all orchestrated by the ruling party to suppress the opposition ahead of the 2027 general elections.