Photo caption: L-R: The Director General of NiMet, Charles Anosike, and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of REX Insurance, Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has unveiled plans to protect Nigerian farmers from climate related losses.

According to NiMet on Monday, the plan is the outcome of a new partnership it entered into, with REX Insurance Limited to develop weather index insurance products to provide insurance solutions that cushion the impact of unpredictable weather events such as droughts and floods.

The scheme would therefore help to safeguard farmers livelihood while promoting more sustainable agricultural practices across the country.

Speaking during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the Director General/CEO of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike, said the agency’s over 100 years of weather observation places it in a strong position to support climate-risk management in agriculture.

He noted that climate change continues to expose the agricultural sector to significant risks, affecting crops, livestock, soil, water resources and rural communities.

According to him, the proposed weather-index agricultural insurance scheme will rely on measurable weather data to trigger insurance payouts whenever conditions exceed predefined thresholds.

Anosike explained that the scheme will also leverage crop calendar forecasting; a tool that predicts optimal planting and harvesting periods based on climate data to provide farmers with timely weather and climate information that can improve planning and boost yields.

The NiMet boss stressed further that insurance remains a critical tool for managing climate risks, especially as extreme weather events become more frequent.

He reaffirmed NiMet’s commitment to the partnership, expressing confidence that the initiative would strengthen farmers’ resilience and improve agricultural productivity in Nigeria.

In her response, the Managing Director of REX Insurance, Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, said the company has recently repositioned itself to deploy technology in delivering innovative insurance solutions, particularly for the agricultural sector.

She explained that the firm, formerly known as Royal Exchange Insurance and established in 1918 as Nigeria’s first insurance company, is focused on helping small holder farmers manage risks and plan their farming activities more effectively, adding that the collaboration with NiMet would make index-based insurance accessible to small holder farmers, enabling them to receive compensation when adverse weather conditions affect their production.

Anambra State Police Command has detained six personnel of the Okpoko Division, Onitsha, for allegedly extorting a victim of ₦200,000 using a PoS operator.

The arrest followed a widely circulated video of the incident where the wife of the victim narrated how her husband, a drink seller, was allegedly harassed, handcuffed and extorted after being stopped by some policemen while returning from Relief Market, Onitsha, where he went to buy drinks with his bus.

It was gathered that the incident occurred around the ever-busy Upper Iweka axis of the Onitsha-Awka-Enugu Expressway, over the weekend.

In the video, the wife of the victim said her husband was intercepted under the Upper Iweka flyover in Onitsha by the police officers, who demanded the particulars of his vehicle, which she said he presented and were found to be complete and valid.

She said despite having valid particulars of the vehicle, the police personnel allegedly arrested her husband, seized his particulars and ordered him to transfer ₦500,000, but he pleaded and eventually he transferred ₦200,000 into a yet-to-disclosed account through the PoS operator to avoid being detained.

They allegedly used a PoS operator in the Okpoko area near Onitsha, the commercial centre of the state, to receive the money.

A voice-over in the video said the police personnel took the victim to the PoS operator, where the money was transferred, stating that the police personnel always forced other victims in the area to pay such an amount daily to avoid further consequences.

Reacting to the development, the Command acknowledged the viral content via a press statement, adding that the video has been intercepted and is being investigated.

In the statement released on Monday, the Spokesman for the Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed that the state Commissioner of Police, Ikioye Orutugu, has ordered the detention of the six officers allegedly involved in the incident pending the outcome of ongoing investigations.

Ikenga disclosed that the officers include two Assistant Superintendents of Police and four Inspectors of Police.

He said the money allegedly collected from the victim has been returned, showing serious indictment and unprofessional conduct of the officers.

The statement read in part, “The Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, CP Ikioye Orutugu, has ordered the detention of the six officers allegedly involved in the incident pending the outcome of ongoing investigations.

“The officers include two Assistant Superintendents of Police and four Inspectors of Police. Meanwhile, senior officers connected to the incident have been queried, while statements from the other ranks involved have been taken under caution in line with established Police investigative procedures.

“The Command has also initiated steps to arrest the alleged POS operator in Onitsha, whose involvement suggests possible conspiracy in the incident.

“Furthermore, through the Divisional Police Officer, Okpoko, the Command invites and awaits the victim involved in the complaint to come forward to provide additional testimony to aid the investigation and guide further disciplinary action.”

Spokesperson of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has alleged that powerful figures from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are bent on destroying ADC ahead of the 2027 general election.

Abdullahi, the national publicity secretary of ADC, said in a statement on Monday, that he was aware of efforts to promote Nafiu Gombe as the party’s national chairman and noted that Gombe had been previously expelled from the party.

“Mr Gombe, who once claimed to be Deputy National Chairman under the former National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu, was duly expelled from the ADC after engaging in actions that were inconsistent with the party’s constitution, its principles, and the collective decisions of its leadership,” the statement reads.

“The objective is clear: to manufacture confusion within the ADC, sponsor illegitimate leadership claims, and ultimately cripple the only credible opposition platform that Nigerians are increasingly looking to as a genuine alternative, thereby leaving Nigerians with no real choice in the next general election, despite the widespread suffering the ruling party has brought on the people.

“We, therefore, wonder at the level of desperation driving these anti-democratic forces to continue their sinister efforts to impose expelled individuals on the party or manipulate its internal structures through external political pressure on judges and electoral officials.”

He noted that a combined meeting of the party’s national working committee (NWC) and national executive committee (NEC) in July 2025, witnessed by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), transferred leadership to the coalition led by David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola.

Abdullahi noted that the transition was formally recognised by INEC in September 2025.

The ADC spokesperson also highlighted that a federal high court dismissed a case challenging Mark’s leadership on March 6, affirming the party’s internal processes and the supreme court’s previous judgment that leadership matters are primarily an internal party affair.

Abdullahi called on the public, party members, and democratic institutions to respect the ADC’s constitutionally recognised leadership and to disregard claims made by unauthorised individuals.

He noted that the party remains committed to strengthening internal democracy and providing Nigerians with a credible political alternative ahead of the 2027 elections.