Author: Naija Daily News

A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has discharged and acquitted 12 travellers accused of killing a female police officer, Inspector Christiana Erekere, during a stop-and-search operation in April 2024. Inspector Erekere, attached to the Taabaa Police Division in Bori, Khana Local Government Area, reportedly died during an altercation at a checkpoint involving the travellers, who were on their way to Akwa Ibom State for a wedding. Delivering judgment on Monday, Justice Augusta Chukwu ruled that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants were responsible for the officer’s death. The accused — Efeoghene…

By Deborah Nnamdi President Bola Tinubu on Monday held a closed-door meeting with the newly appointed service chiefs at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Although the agenda of the meeting was not disclosed, sources suggest it may be linked to recent developments in the country’s security architecture. In attendance were the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Olufemi Oluyede; Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Kelvin Aneke; Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Idi Abbas; Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major General E.A.P. Undiendeye, and Chief of Army Staff, Major General Waidi Shaibu. Confirming the meeting on his X handle,…

Suspected armed robbers on Monday morning attacked and robbed a bank customer of an undisclosed amount of money in the Osuntokun area of Ibadan North Local Government, Oyo State, leaving a police officer severely injured during a gun duel. According to eyewitnesses, the victim was trailed by the assailants after making a cash withdrawal from a commercial bank before being ambushed along the Osuntokun–Secretariat Road, Agodi, around 8 a.m. The gunmen, who reportedly drove in a separate vehicle, intercepted the victim’s grey Nissan Primera with registration number EPE 901 PS and dispossessed him of the cash at gunpoint. An eyewitness,…

By Deborah Nnamdi The Ondo State Police Command has uncovered a suspected baby factory and human trafficking syndicate operating in Ore, headquarters of the Odigbo Local Government Area of the state. This was disclosed in a statement on Monday by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Olushola Ayanlade, who said the case had been transferred to the Command’s Gender-Based Violence Unit for thorough investigation. According to the statement, the discovery followed a report made on October 21, 2025, by a 17-year-old girl, identified as Vivian Peter from Akwa Ibom State. Vivian told police that she had been trafficked to Ore…

The detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has withdrawn his earlier plan to call witnesses in his ongoing trial for alleged terrorism offences. At Monday’s resumed hearing before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Kanu said he had reviewed his case file and found no valid charge against him, adding that it would therefore be unnecessary to open any defence. The court had adjourned the matter from October 24 to October 27 for the IPOB leader to begin his defence after he had written to the court seeking permission to…

By Deborah Nnamdi The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted a mix of dust haze, thunderstorms, and moderate rainfall across the country between Monday and Wednesday, warning of possible flash floods in some southern states. In its three-day weather outlook released on Sunday in Abuja, the agency said that slight dust haze with good visibility is expected over Borno, Zamfara, northern Kaduna, Yobe, Jigawa, Kano, and Katsina States on Monday. It added that isolated thunderstorms with light rain are likely in Taraba and Adamawa States later in the day. For the central region, NiMet forecast sunny skies with patches of…

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has dismantled a large-scale child trafficking network with the arrest of a 60-year-old prominent Benue-based orphanage operator and founder of the National Council of Child Rights Advocates of Nigeria (NACCRAN). According to a statement issued by NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Bello, the suspect—who is also a leading member of the orphanage owners’ umbrella body in Nigeria—was apprehended by operatives of the agency’s Makurdi Command following a credible intelligence report. The operation led to the rescue of 26 children out of more than 300 allegedly trafficked and sold across orphanages in…

By Deborah Nnamdi Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has urged stronger private sector participation as a driving force for Nigeria’s economic growth. Keyamo made the call on Sunday in Abuja during the inaugural flight of Air Peace from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to Heathrow Airport, London. The airline also operates a Lagos–London Gatwick route, making it the first Nigerian carrier to offer direct flight services from both Abuja and Lagos to the United Kingdom. In a statement by his media aide, Tunde Moshood, Keyamo said the private sector remains the engine of economic development and job…

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has announced plans to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike beginning Friday, November 1, 2025, following the expiration of a 30-day ultimatum earlier issued to the Federal Government. NARD President, Dr. Mohammad Suleiman, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, noting that the decision was reached after a five-hour emergency meeting of the association’s National Executive Council (NEC) held on Saturday. According to Suleiman, the strike was approved after the government failed to address a series of unresolved welfare and policy issues affecting resident doctors across the country. “The NEC has unanimously directed…

The Delta State Police Command has arrested a 20-year-old herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, and his stepbrother, Smart Okwuokenye, for allegedly abducting and brutally killing two young men in Owa-Alidima, Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State. The victims, identified as 22-year-old Friday Liberty and a commercial motorcyclist, Isioma Ugbeje, were reportedly murdered and their mutilated remains dumped inside a septic tank near the suspects’ shrine. Police spokesperson, Bright Edafe, who confirmed the incident on Sunday, said the suspects shockingly demanded ransom from the victims’ families even after killing them, pretending the men were still alive. According to Edafe, the…