Author: Opalim Lifted

Senior lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, has urged Nigerians who have paid ransom to kidnappers to drag the federal government to court and demand a refund, arguing that the state has failed in its most basic duty, protecting its citizens. Speaking at the University of Abuja’s Faculty of Law Legal Year opening, Falana faulted the government for acting swiftly only when influential individuals are abducted, while leaving ordinary citizens to fend for themselves. He said the government’s inability to curb the growing wave of kidnappings violates both the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, stressing that…

An evening church service in Kwara State turned into terror on Tuesday after armed bandits stormed a Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) branch in Oke Isegun, Eruku, abducting an unconfirmed number of worshippers and killing at least two people. The attack, captured on a live-streamed video seen by Chronicle NG, showed the congregation singing when sudden bursts of gunfire erupted outside. Panic spread instantly. The young pastor leading the service urged members to take cover as shots rang out and armed men advanced towards the building. More than five gunmen reportedly stormed the church at about 6pm, ransacking the premises and…

President Bola Tinubu will leave Abuja on Wednesday for a two-nation visit to South Africa and Angola, where he is expected to join world leaders for high-level global and continental engagements. In a statement on Tuesday, Bayo Onanuga, the President’s special adviser on information and strategy, confirmed that Tinubu’s first stop will be Johannesburg for the G20 summit. Tinubu is attending at the invitation of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who currently chairs the G20. The Nigerian leader was also present at last year’s edition in Brazil at the request of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. This year’s summit,…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ex-Kaduna Central senator, Shehu Sani, have demanded urgent clarification following conflicting reports on the alleged killing of Brigadier-General Musa Uba by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters in Borno State. ISWAP claimed on Monday that it captured and executed the senior officer after an ambush on a military convoy near Wajiroko village. The brigade commander was reportedly returning from a late-night patrol when the convoy came under intense fire. The Nigerian Army swiftly dismissed reports of his abduction, describing them as “fake news” and insisting the officer was safe after troops repelled the…

Two of the 25 female students abducted by bandits from Government Girls Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State have reportedly escaped from their captors. Quoting Hussaini Aliyu, an official from Danko Wasagu LGA, the BBC reported that the students fled as they were being led into the bush by the bandits, escaping across nearby farmlands. According to the report, Aliyu confirmed that the girls “are back and safe”, adding that one of them required medical treatment after injuring her leg while fleeing. Gunmen attacked the school on Monday morning and kidnapped 25 female students during the raid. Nafi’u Kotarkoshi, spokesperson…

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has recently scored major gains as Vice President Kashim Shettima formally welcomed former Kogi State Governor, Capt. Ichala Wada, into the ruling party — just as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) made an extraordinary appeal to US President Donald Trump to “save Nigeria’s democracy”. Shettima received Wada and Hon. Samuel Abenemi, the SDP’s deputy governorship candidate, alongside several opposition figures who defected to the APC in what he described as “a new chapter for Kogi State and Nigeria”. The Vice President said he was delighted that “good governance is taking root”, adding that the wave…

Hackers have breached the mobile phones of two of Nigeria’s most influential businessmen, Aliko Dangote, chief executive of the Dangote Group, and Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo Plc. Sources close to both camps confirmed that their devices were compromised within the last week. While Otedola suffered a single intrusion, Dangote’s phone was hacked twice in just two days. It is not yet clear whether the two billionaires have fully regained control of their phones, but insiders say the attackers have already issued financial demands. “The hackers are asking for money from both men,” TheCable reported. Dangote and Otedola share…

President Bola Tinubu says his administration’s sweeping economic and institutional reforms are built to secure a safer, more prosperous future for Nigerian youths by equipping them with globally competitive skills. Hosting the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, at the State House in Abuja on Monday, Tinubu stressed that young people sit at the heart of his reform agenda. He said their full participation is vital to driving national growth and ensuring the sustainability of the government’s policies. Prince Edward, who chairs the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, visited the President ahead of the global award ceremony scheduled to take…

A major slice of the internet’s hidden backbone faltered on Tuesday after Cloudflare, the US firm shielding millions of websites from cyberattacks, suffered a global outage triggered by a still-unexplained surge in traffic. The disruption left users worldwide staring at error messages, with several high-profile platforms, including X and OpenAI, recording increased downtime in the same window, according to Downdetector. Some website owners were also unable to log into their performance dashboards, deepening the frustration. Cloudflare confirmed that the issue began at 11:20am GMT, when engineers detected a “spike in unusual traffic” hitting one of its key services. The flood…

Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has claimed it killed Brigadier General M. Uba after ambushing a military convoy on Damboa Road near Wajiroko, Borno State. The ambush occurred on Friday as troops and Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) operatives were transporting military equipment. ISWAP fighters reportedly opened fire on the convoy, sparking a fierce gun battle. The insurgents seized at least 17 military motorcycles, while two CJTF operatives and two soldiers were confirmed dead. Initial reports suggested the brigadier general had been abducted. The Nigerian Army swiftly rejected the claims on Saturday, with spokesperson Onyechi Anele insisting that Uba…