Author: Vincent Osuwo

The European Union took a legal step on Monday towards sanctioning Niger’s new military rulers, who deposed the democratically elected leader in July. The 27-nation union has criticized Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum’s overthrow, which deposed a crucial Western partner in the jihadist-infested region. The EU disclosed that it had adopted a legal framework under which it can now “sanction individuals and entities responsible for actions that threaten the peace, stability, and security of Niger”. The move, according to the union’s foreign policy leader, “sends a clear message—military coups have consequences.” Following the military coup, the EU has already suspended security…

Armita Geravand, a teenage Iranian girl who was allegedly assaulted by the country’s morality police for not wearing a headscarf has been declared “brain dead,” according to state-controlled media. According to activists, Armita Geravand, 16, was hospitalized with head injuries after the alleged assault at a Tehran metro station earlier this month, just weeks after Iran passed draconian legislation imposing much harsher penalties on women who violate the country’s already strict hijab rules. “Follow-ups on the latest health condition of Armita Geravand indicate that her condition of being brain dead seems certain despite the efforts of the medical staff,” the…

The Lagos State government has closed down the Alaba International market in Ojo over its filthy environment. Tokunbo Wahab, the state’s commissioner for environment, announced this on Monday on his X account. He said, “Alaba International Market, Ojo, has been sealed up for poor waste disposal practices, failure to pay their waste bills, and gross environmental sanitation offences.” Lagos govt reopens Mile 12 market Alaba International Market, recognized as West Africa’s largest electronics market, also sells household appliances. In the same vein, the government declared on Sunday that the Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association (ASPAMDA), BBA, and other…

The Al-Azhar Academy in Zaria has been sealed by the Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority, KSSQAA, over an alleged beating of a student to death. Marwan Sambo, a JSS 3 student, was said to have died as a result of brutal beatings and corporal punishments by several teachers due to absenteeism. Dr. Usman Abubakar, Director-General of KSSQAA, said in a statement yesterday in Kaduna that the state’s Ministry of Education, representing the Kaduna state government, and the school had started a fact-finding expedition. He stated that their mission to Zaria was to piece together the sequence of events that…

The Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has vehemently refuted rumours and reports making the rounds suggesting that there have been assassination attempts on his life. Social media was awash with reports on the assassination attempt on the governor while travelling from Lokoja to Abuja on Sunday. However, clarifying the incident in a press briefing on Sunday, the governor in Abuja labelled the claims as false and should be disregarded. He stated that the incident was a little disagreement between his personal security team and military officers tasked with securing the route, emphasising that no attempt on his life was…

A Nigerian student, simply identified as Ikem, has reportedly lost his life after he was allegedly brutally murdered by a group of Chinese in the Republic of the Philippines. Ikem’s friend, Michael Ojuola, disclose this on Sunday in a statement on X. He wrote, “A friend of mine, a Nigerian medical student named Ikem studying in the Republic of the Philippines, was brutally murdered by a group of Chinese. “They tied his hands up, covered and tied his mouth, and he was beaten blue-black until he gave up the ghost. “This should never be allowed to get swept under the…

Thousands of protesters rallied in Paris on Sunday, demanding an end to the Israeli military operation in Gaza, which organisers described as a “massacre”, following the bloody attack by Hamas militants. Israel assassin, Macron complicit,” and “No peace without decolonization” were among the placards used at the protest sponsored by a left-wing collective in eastern Paris’ Place de la Republique plaza. Police said they made 10 arrests at the first pro-Palestinian protest in the capital that had not been banned due to security concerns. On Thursday, a judge overturned a police ban on a similar gathering in the capital. “We…

Gaza received 17-truck aid from Egypt on Sunday as Israel intensified strikes on the Palestinian enclave, facing a “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in the war sparked by a bloody Hamas attack. The assistance delivery across the Rafah crossing on Sunday was the second such operation in two days, following the arrival of 20 trucks on Saturday. Given the “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza, the UN estimates that approximately 100 trucks per day are required to cover the needs of 2.4 million Gazans. Hamas terrorists surged into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 and killed at least 1,400 people, predominantly…

Overnight bombings on the Gaza Strip killed at least 55 Palestinians, according to the Hamas authority, as Israel announced an increase in operations. “More than 55 martyrs,” the Israeli press office declared after the latest night of bombardment in response to Hamas strikes on Israel on October 7. It went on to say that more than 30 homes had been demolished in the hours following the announcement by an Israeli military official that raids would be expanded. The Hamas leadership stated that more than 4,300 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israeli raids since the war started in response…

Troops of Operation UDO KA II apprehended one Chimezie Chukwu, popularly called Biggi, an escapee of the Jos Prison Break, at the Ugbakwa Village in the Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State on Friday. This was revealed in a statement posted on the Nigerian Army’s official Facebook page on Sunday. According to the statement, Chukwu was caught “during a search on the hideaway of unknown gunmen in Ugbakwa Village in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.” The statement reads, “Troops of Sector 1 of the Joint Task Force South East Operation UDO KA II on Friday,…