Five things to know to start your Wednesday

The military has taken over the Rivers State Government House

Military trucks moved into Rivers Government House in Port Harcourt Tuesday night as President Bola Tinubu’s state of emergency took effect. Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s location is unknown.

The military deployment came hours after Tinubu declared emergency rule in response to militant attacks on oil installations. Approximately 10 military trucks patrolled roads near Government House, with armoured vehicles positioned at strategic locations.

These attacks followed threats by militant groups to target pipelines if the Rivers House of Assembly moved forward with impeachment proceedings against Fubara.

Shortly after lawmakers served the governor with a notice of alleged misconduct, militants carried out their threats, prompting the president to suspend both Fubara and the lawmakers for six months and appoint an administrator for the state.

NNPCL lost its bid to stop Dangote’s N100bn lawsuit

The Federal High Court on Tuesday presided over Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and several oil marketers.

The refinery is asking the court to cancel import licenses issued by NMDPRA to NNPCL and the five other companies. Dangote argues that these licenses violate Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act, which only permit import licenses in cases of petroleum product shortages. The refinery claims it has sufficient capacity to meet domestic fuel demand.

NNPCL challenged the lawsuit on several grounds, including jurisdiction issues. The company argued that Dangote Refinery named a non-existent entity (“NNPC”) as the second defendant rather than its proper registered name, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. NNPCL also questioned Dangote’s legal standing to file the case, calling the action “premature.”

The court also rejected the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s (FCCPC) attempt to join the lawsuit.

Read Also: Nigeria’s oil output hit as explosion rocks biggest pipeline

Putin agreed to a temporary halt on energy facility strikes, but no full ceasefire

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Tuesday to temporarily halt attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities but declined President Donald Trump’s proposal for a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire that was intended as a stepping stone toward lasting peace.

Ukraine has indicated support for this narrower agreement, which requires both nations to refrain from targeting each other’s energy infrastructure for approximately one month. Experts suggest Putin’s limited concession may be a tactical move to buy time as Russian forces continue to make territorial gains in eastern Ukraine.

The White House announced that discussions on several fronts would begin immediately following Tuesday’s extensive phone call between Trump and Putin. These talks will cover a potential Black Sea maritime ceasefire, a more comprehensive ceasefire, and ultimately a permanent peace agreement.

It remains uncertain whether Ukraine will participate in these negotiations, scheduled to take place Sunday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Trump released JFK’s assassination files

Over 1,100 previously unreleased documents about President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination were made public Tuesday following an order from President Donald Trump. The files, totalling more than 31,000 pages, were posted on the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration’s website.

These documents represent a small portion of the National Archives’ extensive collection related to the assassination, which includes over 6 million pages of records, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings, and artefacts. The majority of these materials have already been made available to the public.

Trump announced the document release on Monday during a visit to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. He said his administration would be releasing approximately 80,000 pages in total.

“We have a tremendous amount of paper. You’ve got a lot of reading,” Trump said.

A federal judge blocked Trump’s ban on transgender military members

A federal judge has indefinitely blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender service members, delivering a significant setback to a controversial policy that Trump had previously implemented during his first term.

In a strongly worded ruling, US District Judge Ana Reyes, appointed by former President Joe Biden, barred the administration from enforcing the ban that was scheduled to take effect later this month.

Judge Reyes criticised the policy harshly, writing that it “is soaked in animus and dripping with pretext. Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact.”

The judge temporarily paused her preliminary injunction until Friday morning to allow the administration time to appeal the decision to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case was brought by active-duty transgender service members and prospective recruits who would be prevented from serving under the ban.