Author: Opalim Lifted

A two-storey building has collapsed on Baale Street in the Ajuwon area of Ifo Local Government Area, Ogun State. The building, which comprised shops and residential apartments, collapsed on Monday afternoon during heavy rainfall in the area. Emergency responders were mobilised to the scene following the incident. Speaking to Channels Television at the scene, Akiode Saheed, the South-West Zonal Director of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said the occupants of the building had noticed structural cracks but failed to notify the appropriate authorities. Saheed said emergency responders had commenced the evacuation of the debris. He disclosed that three bodies…

The United States staged a walkout during a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday in protest over remarks made by France comparing Washington’s stance on human rights to that of authoritarian governments. The diplomatic protest took place during an emergency Security Council session on Russia’s war in Ukraine, as France’s Ambassador to the UN, Jérôme Bonnafont, addressed the council. Members of the US delegation left the chamber while Bonnafont was speaking, marking a sharp escalation in tensions between the two longtime allies. The dispute stems from a vote at the UN General Assembly last week on the reappointment of…

Dennis Amachree, former assistant director of the Department of State Services (DSS), has challenged Hamza Al-Mustapha, former chief security officer to former Head of State Sani Abacha, to release CCTV footage of the military ruler’s final hours if he disputes the account contained in his memoir. Amachree was responding to Al-Mustapha’s dismissal of claims in his recently published book, DSS @ 40: My Journey Behind the Shield, in which he wrote that Abacha died in June 1998 after suffering a coitus-induced cardiac arrest. However, Al-Mustapha alleged that the former DSS officer was “acting out a script” and had been influenced…

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has formally terminated the services of his legal counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor. Ejiofor had represented Kanu and IPOB in numerous court cases since 2015. In a letter dated July 22, 2026, and addressed to Ejiofor, the IPOB leader said the correspondence served as a formal termination of the lawyer’s legal representation, following previous “direct verbal communication”. Kanu, who is being held at the Sokoto Correctional Centre, reportedly wrote the letter from the custodial facility. The sender’s address on the letter reads: “Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Sokoto Correctional Centre, Sokoto, Sokoto State,…

At least 30 people have reportedly been killed after gunmen attacked Naridon village in Kamaru Ward of Kauru Local Government Area, Kaduna State, in the early hours of Monday. According to reports, the attackers stormed the community at about 1am, opening fire indiscriminately on residents and forcing many to flee into nearby bushes. Amnesty International said the assailants chased those attempting to escape, killing many in what it described as one of the deadliest attacks recorded in southern Kaduna. The human rights organisation alleged that entire families were slaughtered inside their homes, with many residents still unaccounted for as search…

By Henry Obiekea, Managing Director, FairMoney Microfinance Bank Nigeria’s banking industry is entering one of its most significant periods of transformation since the 2005 banking consolidation exercise. The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) ongoing recapitalisation programme is more than a regulatory requirement—it is a strategic investment in the country’s financial future. If implemented successfully, it has the potential to strengthen financial stability, deepen access to credit, improve investor confidence and support a more inclusive and resilient economy. In March 2024, the CBN announced new minimum capital requirements for commercial, merchant and non-interest banks. Under the new framework, international commercial banks…

The United States Mission has reminded Nigerians that the length of stay for visitors is determined by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer upon arrival in the US. In a recent statement, travellers were asked to check their Form I-94 for confirmation of approved duration. The form contains an “admit until date”. A Form I-94 is needed by all visitors except US citizens, returning resident immigrants, foreigners with immigrant visas, and most Canadian citizens visiting or in transit. Travellers are issued an I-94 during the admission process at the port of entry. However, foreigners traveling via a land border…

The Plateau State Government has stepped up its emergency response after a cholera outbreak claimed 14 lives and spread across four local government areas. State Commissioner for Health, Nicholas Ba’amlong, disclosed during a press briefing in Jos on Monday that 441 suspected cholera cases have been recorded across 127 settlements in the past two months. Ba’amlong said the outbreak was first confirmed in Mangu Local Government Area in June 2026 after laboratory testing identified cholera. This prompted the Ministry of Health to activate a coordinated emergency response with local councils, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), and…

The Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, has alleged that a letter from his office to the State House was intercepted by Adeniyi Adeyemi, the man accused of operating the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC). Speaking before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the PFIPC controversy and the ₦1.3 billion allocated to the council in the 2026 Appropriation Act, Ogunjimi said the intercepted correspondence could have exposed the alleged forgery behind the council much earlier. According to him, the Office of the Accountant-General first received a request in November 2024 on State House letterhead seeking an…

The principal of Community High School, Esiele, in Oriire Local Government, Ogbomoso Oyo State, Rachael Alamu, has described her release after 56 days in captivity as nothing short of a miracle. Speaking during a thanksgiving service at Antioch Baptist Church in Ogbomoso on Sunday, Alamu recounted the traumatic experience she endured after being abducted alongside other victims, saying she relied on faith throughout the ordeal. She said she prayed for two things while in captivity: that her husband would still be alive when she returned home and that she would not die in the forest. “The release was miraculous. I…