Author: Vincent Osuwo

Twenty-nine students who were writing their school exams in the Central African Republic (CAR) have been killed in a crush after a nearby explosion caused panic, a hospital director confirmed. The explosion, on the second day of the high-school finals on Wednesday, occurred at an electricity transformer, said Abel Assaye from the Bangui community hospital. “The noise of the explosion, combined with smoke” caused alarm among the almost 6,000 students sitting the baccalaureate at a school in the capital, Bangui, local radio station Ndeke Luka reported. CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has declared a period of national mourning. He also ordered…

Hugo Carvajal, Venezuela’s former head of military intelligence, also known as “El Pollo” or The Chicken, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges in the United States. US officials accused the 65-year-old of being a member of a drug-smuggling ring comprised of high-ranking Venezuelan military personnel. The guilty plea is the latest twist in Carvajal’s downfall from feared spymaster to felon following his humiliating arrest in a Madrid hideout, when he was identified despite wearing a fake moustache and wig. Carvajal, a close associate of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, is said to have important information regarding Chávez’s successor,…

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday that the 12-day battle with Israel caused “serious” damage to Iran’s nuclear sites, as the country began to examine the conflict’s consequences. “A detailed assessment of the damage is being carried out by experts from the Atomic Energy Organisation (of Iran),” he told state television. “Now, the discussion of demanding damages and the necessity of providing them has been placed as one of the important issues on the country’s diplomatic agenda,” he added. “These damages are serious, and expert studies and political decision-making are underway at the same time.” However, according to a…

The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered an investigation into the claims made by a retired Superintendent of Police in a video concerning the welfare and retirement benefits of police pensioners. The retired officer, who served in the force for 35 years, reportedly rejected a retirement benefit of ₦2 million. In the viral video, the officer, who retired on October 1, 2023, expressed deep frustration over what he described as a meagre payout. He stated that the Nigeria Police Pension Board recently informed him that his total retirement benefits had been approved at ₦3 million. He claims to have…

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike has disputed online reports that he allocated to one of his sons about 2,000 hectares of land in the Maitama and Asokoro areas. According to an internet allegation, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike covertly handed his son 2,082 hectares of land in Asokoro and Maitama, two of Abuja’s most premium areas. The publication mentioned a Right of Occupancy supposedly issued in the name of JOAQ Farms and Estate Limited, which it associated with Wike’s family. The investigation implied that the land, which was intended for agricultural reasons, was being utilised as a…

President Bola Tinubu has assured residents of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, that his administration is tackling the menace of ‘one-chance’ criminals with reforms in public transport infrastructure. Tinubu gave the assurance during the inauguration of the Kugbo Bus Terminal in Abuja on Thursday. The president was represented at the event by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. “We heard your concerns, we understood your fears, and we acted. With your compliance, you will no longer suffer from one chance by the roadside,” he said. Tinubu stated that the newly built terminal, along with the earlier commissioned Mabushi terminal, would end chaotic…

The Ondo State Police Command on Thursday disclosed it had arrested one Chief Adeniyi Ifedayo for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl in the Laaagba community in the Ondo East Local Government Area of the state. Ifedayo, the community’s traditional ruler, was accused of luring the girl into his house and keeping her there for two weeks, where he allegedly sexually harassed her. According to a source, the victim was allegedly lured to the traditional ruler’s house by a yet-to-be-identified commercial motorbike rider in the community. The suspect allegedly kept her in his house for two weeks and fed her pap…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it will conduct by-elections across affected constituencies on Saturday, August 16, 2025. Elections are being held to fill seats in the National and State Assemblies that have become empty due to resignations, deaths, or court annulments. Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the commission, announced this during a consultative meeting with political parties in Abuja on Thursday. Details later…

The High Court in Lafia, Nasarawa State, has condemned Oluwatimileyin Ajayi to death by hanging for the brutal murder of Salome Adaidu, a National Youth Service Corps member. On Thursday, Justice Simon Aboki convicted Timileyin of culpable homicide for killing and dismembering the victim. Timileyin was convicted of one count of culpable homicide, which is punishable by death under Section 221 of the Northern Nigeria Penal Code. Timileyin was arrested in Orozo, a border community between the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and Nasarawa State. Ajayi was found with a decapitated head in a black nylon bag during a church…

The 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has raised concerns over the ongoing strike by public primary school teachers in the Federal Capital Territory, which has left pupils out of school for over three months. In a statement on X on Thursday, Obi described education as the most critical and immeasurable component of human development, emphasising that a nation’s progress is closely tied to the education of its people. “It is a known and verifiable study that the more educated a nation is, the more developed it is. Consequently, the most important investment and policy a nation requires is…