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Federal Government (FG) said it has secured the release of a further 130 schoolchildren kidnapped from a Catholic school in November, after 100 were freed earlier this month. “Another 130 abducted Niger state pupils released, none left in captivity,” presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare said on X, in a post accompanied by a photo of smiling children. In late November, gunmen kidnapped hundreds of students and staff from St Mary’s co-educational boarding school in Niger State. There has recently been an upsurge in mass abductions, reminiscent of the kidnapping of schoolgirls in Chibok by the militant group Boko Haram in 2014.…

*Oyo Head Of Service Salutes Civil Servants Over Conduct During Examinations By Stephen Gbadamosi, Ibadan The Circular Road Stakeholders Engagement Committee set up by Oyo State governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, to look into the grievances of those protesting against the planned corridor for the 110-kilometre road, paid a courtesy visit to the Olubadan of Ibadanland, His Imperial Majesty Oba (Senator) Rasidi Adewolu Ladoja, Arusa 1, at the Oke Aremo Palace to brief him on its activities. It also sought guidance on how to further successfully prosecute its assignment. The committee, made up of some prominent Ibadan mogajis (family heads), Chairmen…

By Idibia Gabriel, Kaduna A fresh scandal is rocking the Kaduna Polytechnic. On the heels of the subsisting allegation of land grabbing on the institution's Bypass-By-Television Village site by outsiders believed to be fronting for some staff of the federal polytechnic, the school is now gripped by a bids controversy over its move to lease out the school's hotels for five years to qualified operators. The reported rejection of a particular highest bidder's proposal has sparked outrage and suspicion in governance accountability and transparency circles in the Northern political capital. Worse still, no genuine reason was given for the rejection…

*'Public Officials Should Experience Realities On Ground' By Prosper Okoye Civil society groups in Nigeria have criticised a call by Senate President Godswill Akpabio for the return of police security personnel to members of the National Assembly and other senior public officials. The criticism followed Akpabio’s appeal to President Bola Tinubu to review his recent directive withdrawing police operatives attached to Very Important Persons (VIPs). The president said the move was intended to redeploy officers to tackle wider security challenges across the country. Speaking during President Tinubu’s presentation of the 2026 budget at a joint sitting of the National Assembly…

A coalition of pan-Igbo self determination groups --American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), Ambassadors for Self-Determination (ASD) and Rising Sun Foundation (RSF) -- has slammed Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, over his claim, some days ago, that President Bola Tinubu has integrated Igbos into Nigeria's mainstream, thus rendering the Biafra agitation unwarranted. Frowning at such claim, the coalition queried Umahi, who was a governor of Ebonyi State in South-East Nigeria, picking several holes in the Minister's assertion even as it described him allegedly as a betrayer. Furthermore, the group tracked back into global history and concluded that the activities of…

*President Redefines Who Can Be Tagged A Terrorist *'If You Wield Lethal Weapon, Act Outside State Authority, You Are A Terrorist' PROTOCOLS Distinguished Senate President, Rt. Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members of the House of Representatives,Distinguished Senators and Honourable Members of the National Assembly, Fellow Nigerians, I appear before this Joint Session of the National Assembly, in fulfilment of my constitutional duty, to present the 2026 Appropriation Bill of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is a defining moment in our national journey of reform and transformation. Over the last two and a half years, we made a deliberate choice:…

By Sam Tyav, Makurdi No fewer than 90 Benue State journalists have been trained on information manipulation by the Centre fo Democracy and Development (CDD) West Africa. CDD explained that the training objective was to enable people to avoid possible causes of violence and unrest in the society. During the training, the programme staff of the CDD, Mr Raji Olatunji, who identified misinformation, disinformation and malinformation as classifications of information manipulation, urged journalists to avoid all forms of information manipulation to maintain peaceful coexistence and societal development. This two-day capacity-building workshop which theme was 'Strengthening Information Literacy and Social Cohesion',…

*Film Production Firm Denies Infringing On Ace Actor's Copyright By Stephen Gbadamosi, Ibadan As Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State released the December 2023 outstanding subvention of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the institution, Professor Babatola Ayodele, has commended the governor. Also, the entire university community praised Oyebanji for the gesture. Deputy Registrar/ Head, Directorate of Information and Corporate Affairs of the institution, Dr. Bode Olofinmuagun, in a statement on Thursday, said Professor Ayodele noted that the development would reduce the financial burden of the school. “The Vice Chancellor, particularly, noted with delight that this kind gesture…

*Audit Examination Unearths Scandal *Abuja Opened Lid On Racket *Colleagues Detained, Under Investigation The bid to cleanse Nigeria's Augean stable of filth perpetrated by some uniformed personnel has claimed the life of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in Niger State, in a massive scandal of epic proportions. DSP Isah Abdullahi attached to MOPOL 12 in Minna, Niger State, allegedly shot himself to death with a pistol in the armoury he headed, following official detection of his role in arming terrorists and other criminal elements in the state with AK-47 rifles and ammunition. It is unclear how long Abdullahi had…

By Stephen Gbadamosi, Ibadan, and Emma Ogoigbe, Warri. Newly-appointed Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Oyo State chapter, Rev. Elisha Ogundiya, has paid a courtesy visit to the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Edo and Delta states, His Eminence Alhaji Dawud Makanjuola Akinola (aka De-Damak), at his Ibadan residence in Ikolaba. Alhaji Akinola seized the occasion to advise Nigerians to desist from politicising the security situation in the country, affirming that it was both Christians and Muslims that were being caught in the web of the insecurity menace. This was just as Reverend Ogundiya also said interfaith unity and religious…