The Borno State Urban Planning and Development Board (BSUPDB) has banned street hawking and other illegal activities in Maiduguri, in a bid to maintain order and enhance urban development.

Announcing the decision on Friday, the General Manager of the board, Limán Mustapha, said the directive aligns with the Borno State Urban Planning and Development Law of 2002.

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The ban targets key areas such as the Post Office and Monday Market, where street hawkers, tricycle operators, and generator mechanics have been prohibited.

The directive also bans activities on pedestrian walkways, junctions, and roundabouts.

Other prohibited activities include the sale of engine oil on road reservations, dumping of sand or building materials, mixing of cement on roads, and the construction of boreholes by roadsides.

“All affected individuals and businesses are required to vacate these locations immediately,” Mustapha said. “The board has no alternative but to arrest and prosecute defaulters in a court of law.”

The general manager stressed that the measure is necessary to create a clean, safe, and organized urban environment in Maiduguri and other parts of the state.

Mustapha urged residents and business owners to comply with the directive, warning that legal actions would be taken against defaulters.

This crackdown is part of ongoing efforts to address urban congestion, improve public safety, and promote sustainable development in Borno State’s capital.

A detective inspector in Lusaka is under arrest following a bizarre New Year’s Eve incident in which he allegedly freed 13 suspects from police custody while intoxicated.

Detective Inspector Titus Phiri, stationed at Leonard Cheelo Police Station, reportedly seized the keys to the detention cells while under the influence of alcohol.

He then unlocked both male and female detention cells, telling the suspects they were “free to cross over into the new year.”

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The suspects were being held on serious charges, including assault, robbery, and burglary. Of the 15 detainees in custody, 13 escaped during the incident.

Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga confirmed the events, stating that Inspector Phiri forcibly took the keys from Constable Serah Banda before fleeing the scene himself.

“Mr. Phiri, in a state of intoxication, disregarded his duties and allowed suspects to flee custody,” said Hamoonga.

The detective was arrested following the incident, and a manhunt is now underway to recapture the escaped suspects. Inspector Phiri has not yet issued a statement or responded to the allegations.

The incident has sparked comparisons to a controversial New Year’s Eve event in 1997. Former presidential spokesperson and lawyer Dickson Jere weighed in on the matter, describing the current case as both comical and troubling.

“I keep laughing each time I picture the scenario—comical! But then, I remembered a similar incident in 1997,” Jere wrote on Facebook.

Jere was referencing the late High Court Judge Kabazo Chanda, who ordered the release of 53 detainees on New Year’s Eve 1997, citing frustration over delays in bringing the suspects to trial. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” Judge Chanda famously declared.

While some have criticized Inspector Phiri’s conduct, others have pointed to broader systemic issues that allow such incidents to occur.

Authorities are continuing their efforts to locate the escaped suspects, as the case draws national attention for its unusual circumstances and broader implications for justice in Zambia.

Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), now the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), turned down a $750 million proposal from billionaire Aliko Dangote in 2007 to manage three of the country’s refineries.

In an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, Obasanjo revealed that the offer covered the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries and was intended as a Public–Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement to revive and operate the facilities.

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Despite NNPC’s acknowledged inability to manage the refineries effectively, it rejected the proposal, he said.

“It was after that, Aliko got a team together, and they paid $750 million to take part in PPP in running the refineries,” Obasanjo stated.

“My successor refunded their money, and I went to him and told him what transpired. He said NNPC wanted the refineries and could run them. I said, but you know they cannot run it.”

The former president explained that Dangote’s proposal came after Shell declined an earlier request to manage the refineries, citing corruption, poor maintenance, and low production output as reasons.

Obasanjo admitted that Shell’s assessment was credible. “If a company like Shell rejected my offer based on their reasons, I will believe them,” he said.

Obasanjo expressed regret over the financial mismanagement that followed. “I was told not too long ago that since that time, more than $2 billion has been squandered on the refineries, and they still will not work,” he lamented.

He also questioned the logic behind NNPCL’s current collaboration with Dangote’s private refinery project, which is poised to revolutionize Nigeria’s oil industry.

“Not only will he make it [his refinery] work, but he will also make it deliver,” Obasanjo remarked.

Using an analogy, he criticized the handling of Nigeria’s refineries.

“Whether we announce our own government refineries working or not working, it is like a man who plants 100 heaps of yam and says he planted 200 heaps. After he harvests 100 heaps of yam, he will also harvest 100 heaps of lies.”