Author: Vincent Osuwo

The first batch of Nigerians being repatriated from South Africa following recent xenophobic violence is due to arrive at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport on Thursday morning. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Kimiebi Ebienfa confirmed this in a statement made on Tuesday. According to the ministry, the returnees will be carried on an Air Peace flight from O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Wednesday night. According to the announcement, the aircraft is due to land in Lagos at around 5 a.m. Thursday. The repatriation operation followed worries over attacks on foreign nationals in portions of South Africa, urging…

Peter Obi, the Nigerian Democratic Congress’ (NDC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election, has criticized the President Bola Tinubu-led administration for excessive borrowing. Obi, who stated that the borrowings are unaccountable, exposed stark misconduct during Tinubu’s three-year tenure and challenged President Tinubu to urgently explain the whereabouts of undeployed funds. On Tuesday, Obi wrote on his X handle, “President Bola Tinubu’s administration has engaged in remarkably imprudent borrowing, escalating Nigeria’s total debt to approximately N200 trillion.” “This represents an increase of over N100 trillion within a mere three years, a stark contrast to the roughly N49 trillion accumulated during President…

Diogo Jota’s widow wrote in a letter to Scotland captain Andy Robertson that she is confident her late husband will be in his “heart” as he takes the team out for their first World Cup encounter on Saturday. Jota and Robertson were good friends during their time at Liverpool, but the former’s time there was cut short when he died in a vehicle accident in July at 28. Robertson, who ended a trophy-laden nine-year career with Liverpool by signing for Tottenham Hotspur last Friday, paid tribute to Jota after the Scots qualified for the finals for the first time since…

Former UEFA president Michel Platini has filed civil and legal actions against FIFA and current president Gianni Infantino over corruption allegations from 2015, which he claims wrecked his bid to run the governing body. The criminal lawsuit, filed in French courts, accuses Infantino and two former FIFA executives, legal director Marco Villiger and audit committee head Domenico Scala, of malicious prosecution. In a separate civil complaint, Platini, 70, seeks financial compensation from FIFA for claimed attempts to prevent his election as FIFA president. Former France captain Platini served as UEFA president from 2008 to 2015 and was widely expected to…

Christian Eriksen reports that he is “doing well” and is at home with his family following his collapse in Sunday’s game against Ukraine. The 34-year-old spent the night in the hospital after the incident and stated on Instagram that his “recovery has already begun”. The game in Odense was halted at 65 minutes when he fell and was abandoned shortly thereafter, with Eriksen able to walk off the field after regaining consciousness. The former Manchester United, Tottenham, and Brentford midfielder was placed with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a type of pacemaker, after suffering a heart arrest during a Euro…

Somali referee Omar Artan, who was set to be the first from his country to officiate at the World Cup finals, has been dropped from the list of officials after he was denied entry to the United States. Artan, the 2025 Confederation of African Football (CAF) men’s referee of the year, was denied entry into the country at Miami International Airport and is currently in Turkey. US immigration authorities have not provided a cause for Artan’s repatriation, although Somalia is one of the nations on President Donald Trump’s travel restriction list. After discussing with US authorities, FIFA announced that Artan…

Iran announced on Tuesday that the United States has canceled its distribution of tickets for its World Cup group games, accusing the co-host of impeding Iranian supporters’ presence amid a severe diplomatic row. The US has imposed a variety of bureaucratic barriers for Iran at the global football spectacle, including refusing to give visas to some of its support workers, as the two nations remain at odds after the US and Israel bombed Iran in late February. “With less than three days remaining until the start of the 2026 World Cup… the United States has once again acted to obstruct…

Armed herdsmen were reported to have killed a patent medicine seller, identified as Ojoma Emie, in Ikobi, Apa Local Government Area of Benue State. According to a local source, the alleged killers of the patent medicine merchant severed and removed his head. According to a local source, who only goes by the name Sam, the incident occurred Monday. Sam told our correspondent in a phone chat on Monday that the deceased had gone to the local government headquarters in Ugbokpo and was returning to his base in Ikobi when he was attacked. “What we gathered was that the deceased, who…

Kidnappers invaded a residential area near the Quarry area of Arab Road in Kubwa, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, on Saturday, abducting one resident and shooting another. The kidnapping attack occurred between 11pm on Saturday and midnight on Sunday, our correspondent gathered. Our correspondent on Monday gathered that the resident who was alleged to have been shot later died in the hospital on Sunday. The secretary of the community, identified only as Dairo, said residents were alerted to the attack by the sound of gunfire as the assailants reportedly entered the community through a nearby hill. “We started…

The federal government of Nigeria stated on Monday that it is dissatisfied with the South African government’s failure to respond firmly enough to the renewed wave of xenophobic attacks against Nigerian nationals, warning that retaliatory diplomatic gestures, including a review of bilateral privileges, are being actively considered and are not off the table. Amb Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, told State House media following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. She also refuted blatant assertions by some South African authorities that the Nigerians under attack were illegal migrants. She claimed that Nigerian passport…