Author: Naija Daily News

By Deborah Nnamdi At least 19 bandits were killed during a fierce gun battle with troops of the Joint Task Force Operation MESA in the Shanono Local Government Area of Kano State. The confrontation, which occurred on Saturday, November 1, 2025, involved troops of the 3 Brigade of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies, who acted on a tip-off about the movement of bandits around the Ungwan Tudu, Ungwan Tsamiya, and Goron Dutse axis of Shanono. Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of the command, Captain Babatunde Zubairu, said the troops swiftly mobilized to the scene and engaged the bandits…

By Deborah Nnamdi The Lagos State Police Command has declared activist Omoyele Sowore wanted for allegedly planning to incite public disorder and obstruct major roads across the state. Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh, made the announcement on Monday while briefing journalists at the Iyana-Oworo section of the Third Mainland Bridge. Jimoh said security operatives were closing in on Sowore and others accused of coordinating activities aimed at disturbing public peace and disrupting traffic flow in the state. “Sowore should surrender at the nearest police station or face arrest wherever he is found,” the commissioner warned. “Anyone attempting to cause disturbance…

By Deborah Nnamdi The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) reached a new peak on Monday as security operatives sealed off both the party’s National Secretariat at Wadata Plaza and the Legacy House in Abuja, shortly after Abdulrahman Mohammed declared himself Acting National Chairman. Heavily armed police officers arrived at the Wadata Plaza headquarters in the early hours, ordering staff and journalists to vacate before locking the gates and taking positions around the premises. Not long after, another team stormed the Legacy House in Maitama — headquarters of the National Convention Organising Committee — and shut it down,…

Cleric says Western outrage over alleged persecution exaggerated, be driven by geopolitical interests By Didimoko A. Didimoko, Lagos Pastor Wale Adefarasin, the Senior Pastor of Guiding Light Assembly, has questioned what he described as the United States’ “sudden love” for Nigerian Christians, following comments by former US president Donald Trump about alleged religious persecution in the country. In a video that circulated widely on social media on Monday, Adefarasin challenged the growing Western narrative that Christians in Nigeria were facing genocide, saying such portrayals were exaggerated and misleading. “For 40 years that I have been a Christian, there have been…

Civil-society groups have called on the Nigerian government to review the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to promote transparency, equity, and community ownership, after identifying key governance and implementation gaps in the Host Communities Development Trust (HCDT). The call was contained in a communique issued after a two-day National Convergence on the HCDT, sponsored by Power of Voices/ Fair for All Coalition, with support from OXFAM in Nigeria. The HCDT, held at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, featured participation by CISLAC, BudgiT, STEPS, Ndebumog, Policy Alert and Kenetkache organizations, During the HCDT, participants and stakeholders observed that public…

By Deborah Nnamdi The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the 2023 election, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has called on the United States of America to assist Nigeria with advanced technology to tackle insecurity, rather than issuing threats that could further divide the nation. Kwankwaso appealed in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Sunday, reacting to recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump, who designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over alleged killings of Christians. Trump, in a statement on his Truth Social platform last Friday, claimed that Christianity faces an existential threat…

Nigeria’s Presidency on Monday denied reports that President Bola Tinubu was scheduled to travel to the United States to meet with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, calling the claims “false and misleading.” Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, said in a Facebook post that the report, first published by Sahara Reporters, had sparked a wave of “uninformed commentaries” on social media. “There is a Sahara Reporters story that President Tinubu is going to the U.S. on Tuesday to see U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance. That story is not true,” Ajayi wrote. “If President Tinubu…

By Gabriel Efe When the President of the United States recently described the violence in Nigeria as a “Christian genocide,” the world took notice. The statement, though politically charged, struck a nerve at home. Suddenly, voices that had long been muted found their rhythm again, waving the banners of “let Trump come” as though external validation might heal our internal fractures. But beneath the surface of outrage and applause lies a more troubling question: what really fuels our insecurity, and what does this say about us? The temptation to frame Nigeria’s violence through the narrow lens of religion is strong.…

President Bola Tinubu is set to meet former US president Donald Trump amid renewed concern over reports of attacks on Christians in Nigeria. The meeting was disclosed by Tinubu’s special adviser on policy communication, Daniel Bwala, in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Bwala said the two leaders share a common interest in tackling insurgency and terrorism, noting that Trump previously approved arms sales to Nigeria during his time in office. “Both President @officialABAT and President @realDonaldTrump have shared interest in the fight against insurgency and all forms of terrorism against humanity,” Bwala wrote. He added that Trump had “assisted…

By Deborah Nnamdi The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has confirmed that two coaches of the Warri–Itakpe Train Service (WITS) derailed on Saturday evening. In a statement issued on Sunday by its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kayode Opeifa, the corporation said the incident occurred around 7:30 p.m. and was suspected to have been caused by vandals. Opeifa disclosed that no casualties or injuries were recorded, adding that all passengers were safely evacuated to Agbor. “We are pleased to confirm that all passengers on board were safely evacuated to Agbor, and everyone has been fully accounted for. No casualties or…