Category Nigeria News

A former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has declared his intention to contest the 2027 governorship election in Kebbi State.

Malami made this known on Monday morning.

READ ALSO: Malami Honours DSS Invitation Over Kebbi Convoy Attack

Speaking on his ambition, the former AGF stated that he had the backing of the people of the state.

“INEC guidelines do not allow us to begin any form of mobilisation yet, but I assure you that when the time comes, you will see that we have the support of the people of Kebbi State,” Malami said during an interview with DCL Hausa.

“I have agreed to contest, and there is no retreat. God willing, we are going to win because we have people who believe in us, and we will not let them down,” he added.

Malami criticised the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying it had caused hardship, particularly in northern Nigeria.

According to him, many farmers had been forced away from their farms due to insecurity.

He stated that the challenges persisted because of negligence at both the state and federal levels.

“Today, rice mills that operated actively for 20 years have shut down due to bad policies that favour foreign companies,” he said.

Malami also explained that he would contest to “salvage Kebbi State from insecurity, restore and revive farming, and protect the interests of the people”.

A three-year campaign to bring vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV) to low-income countries has prevented 1.4 million cervical cancer deaths, the vaccine alliance Gavi said Monday.

“An estimated 86 million girls are now protected against the leading cause of cervical cancer, thanks to a concerted three-year effort by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and lower-income countries,” the organisation said.

It added in a statement to mark World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day that “an estimated 1.4 million future deaths” had been prevented.

Cancer caused by HPV disproportionately affects low-income countries, which often lack screening services and access to treatment.

These countries accounted for 90 percent of the 350,000 cervical cancer deaths recorded in 2022, according to Gavi.

The organisation’s chief executive, Sania Nishtar, credited the “incredible commitment” of countries and organisations for helping to reach the target of protecting 86 million girls.

Gavi said that across Africa, the coverage rate for the vaccine had risen from four percent of girls in 2014 to 44 percent at the end of 2024, higher than for Europe on 38 per cent.

READ ALSO: NDLEA Arrests Wanted Suspect, Recovers Large Drug Shipment, Forex In Lagos

The alliance stated that it utilised economies of scale to reduce prices and make vaccines accessible to approximately 50 lower-income countries.

“Gavi secured commitments from manufacturers to invest in HPV vaccines–– and the price of HPV vaccines in Gavi-supported countries is now between $2.90 and $5.18 per dose, compared with US$100 or more elsewhere,” said the statement.

“This collaborative effort is driving major global progress towards eliminating one of the deadliest diseases affecting women,” she said, while stressing that the cancer still kills a woman every two minutes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) officially backed a single-dose HPV vaccination schedule instead of the previous two doses in 2022, allowing twice as many girls to be vaccinated with existing stocks.

Police authorities in Ebonyi State have rescued a kidnap victim and arrested three suspects operating in the Ezzangbo axis of Ohaukwu Local Government Area.

This is contained in a statement released on Sunday by the Ebonyi Police Command spokesperson, Joshua Ukandu.

Ukandu stated that on November 13, 2025, a kidnapping syndicate terrorising the Ezzangbo axis in Ohaukwu Local Government Area, abducted one Obasi ThankGod, tied him up, and abandoned him inside a hotel toilet while demanding a ransom of Five Million Naira (₦5,000,000).

READ ALSO: Two Reported Dead As Suspected Gunmen Attack Ebonyi Community

Through diligent intelligence gathering, operatives of the Command traced the hideout of the kidnappers, successfully rescued the victim, and arrested three suspects, namely: Uchenna Ogbozuru, Ebuka Ejiogu, and Chizoba Idenyi Ogwa.

The police spokesperson stated that the suspects are currently in custody and will be charged in court following an investigation.

In a similar operation, operatives of the Command, while on routine patrol along the Ehamufu-Nkalagu Road, immediately reacted to a critical situation upon hearing the sporadic gunshots and distress screams

The officers swiftly moved to the location in response to gunshots and screams. They found one Ali Solomon, struggling with three gunmen who were attempting to dispossess him of his motorcycle. The hoodlums opened fire and fled upon seeing the police, leading to a gun battle.

Ukandu noted that the police successfully killed one of the three armed robbers and recovered one AK-47 rifle loaded with ten rounds of ammunition.

Following the development, the Commissioner of Police, Ebonyi State, Adaku Uche-Anya, reiterated the Command’s unwavering commitment to protecting the lives and property of all residents and ensuring that criminal elements have no hiding place within the State.

One person has died with six others injured in an early Sunday auto crash in the Ikorodu area of Lagos. 

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Adebayo Taofiq, said the accident occurred around Majidun, inward Ogolonto, directly opposite MRS Filling Station.

Taofiq said, “The brutal impact resulted in the instantaneous death of an adult female passenger, while five female occupants and one male sustained severe and life-threatening injuries.

“While all five injured casualties were rushed to nearby Benic Special Hospital, the remains of the deceased were immediately transferred into the custody of security personnel who conveyed them to the General Hospital, Ikorodu, for urgent formal documentation.”

READ ALSO: [PHOTOS] Two-Storey Building Collapses In Lagos

He said the accident involved a Volkswagen commercial bus bearing registration number EPE 494 XM and a stationary tipper truck.

“Preliminary inquiries have established that the ill-fated commercial bus, chartered to convey passengers to a scheduled programme in Ogijo, experienced an abrupt brake failure,” Taofiq said in a statement.

“The driver, who was reportedly travelling at a perilously excessive speed, consequently lost control and forcefully collided with a tipper truck positioned at the roadside for diesel purchase.”

Although the truck driver had attempted to abscond following the accident, LASTMA operatives apprehended him as well as the commercial bus driver.

“Both individuals were thereafter handed over to officers of the Ipakodo Police Division for comprehensive investigation,” he said.

“To re-establish order and ensure seamless vehicular movement toward Ikorodu Garage, LASTMA personnel efficiently removed the mangled remains of both vehicles from the roadway.”

In the wake of the accident, the General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, conveyed profound grief over the harrowing incident and extended his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.

Britain’s interior minister on Sunday defended plans to drastically reduce protections for refugees and end automatic benefits for asylum seekers, insisting that irregular migration was “tearing our country apart”.

The measures, modelled on Denmark’s strict asylum system, aim to stop thousands of migrants from arriving in England from northern France on small boats — crossings that are fuelling support for the anti-immigrant Reform UK party.

But the proposals were criticised as “harsh and unnecessary” by the Refugee Council charity and are likely to be opposed by left-wing lawmakers within Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s embattled Labour government, which is trying to counter the hard right.

“I really reject this idea that dealing with this problem is somehow engaging in far-right talking points,” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told BBC television.

“This is a moral mission for me, because I can see illegal migration is tearing our country apart; it is dividing communities.”

Presently, those given refugee status have it for five years, after which they can apply for indefinite leave to remain and eventually citizenship.

But Mahmood’s ministry, the Home Office, said it would cut the length of refugee status to 30 months.

That protection will be “regularly reviewed”, and refugees will be forced to return to their home countries once they are deemed safe, it added.

The ministry said it also intended to make people granted asylum wait 20 years before applying to be allowed to live in the United Kingdom indefinitely.

It also announced that it would create “new safe and legal routes for genuine refugees” through “capped work and study routes”.

Asylum claims in Britain are at a record high, with around 111,000 applications made in the year to June 2025, according to official figures.

The Home Office called the new proposals, which Mahmood will lay out in parliament on Monday, the “largest overhaul of asylum policy in modern times”.

It said the reforms would make it less attractive for irregular migrants to come to Britain and make it easier to remove those already in the country.

Benefits Crackdown

A statutory legal duty to provide support to asylum seekers, introduced in a 2005 law, would also be revoked, the Home Office said.

That means housing and weekly financial allowances would no longer be guaranteed for asylum seekers.

It would be “discretionary”, meaning the government could deny assistance to any asylum seeker who could work or support themselves but did not, or those who committed crimes.

Starmer, elected in July 2024, is under pressure to stop migrants crossing the Channel, something that also troubled his Conservative predecessors.

More than 39,000 people, many fleeing conflict, have arrived this year following such journeys — more than for the whole of 2024 but lower than the record set in 2022.

Reform, led by firebrand Nigel Farage, has been ahead of Labour by double-digit margins in opinion polls for most of this year.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot welcomed the proposals, saying asylum seekers risk their lives crossing the Channel because the conditions they get in Britain “are more permissive”.

“We told the UK it was necessary to align certain conditions they give arriving immigrants with European standards,” he said.

However, Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, urged the government to reconsider, saying the plans “will not deter” crossings.

“They should ensure that refugees who work hard and contribute to Britain can build secure, settled lives and give back to their communities,” he said.

Labour is taking inspiration from Denmark’s coalition government — led by the centre-left Social Democrats — which has implemented some of the strictest migration policies in Europe.

Senior British officials recently visited the Scandinavian country, where successful asylum claims are at a 40-year low.

Refugees in Denmark are entitled to a one-year renewable residency permit and are encouraged to return as soon as authorities deem their countries safe.

Family reunions are also subject to strict requirements, including a minimum age for both parents, language tests and guarantees of funds.

The plans will likely face opposition from Labour’s more left-wing lawmakers, fearing that the party is losing voters to progressive alternatives such as the Greens.

A 12-year-old girl identified as Nabilat has died after falling into a well at Ikoyi Community, Irewolede area of Ilorin West Local Government Area, Kwara State.

‎‎It was gathered that the tragic incident occurred around 10:35 am on Saturday when the victim reportedly went to fetch water but slipped and fell into the well.

‎‎The Kwara State Fire Service, in a statement by its Head of Media and Publicity, Hassan Hakeem Adekunle, on Sunday said the service was alerted through a telephone call by a resident, one Mayowa, who witnessed the incident.

‎‎Firefighters were immediately deployed to the scene and successfully recovered the girl’s body, which was subsequently handed over to a family member.

READ ALSO: NDLEA Destroys 25,381.495kg Of Cocaine, Cannabis, Tramadol In Kebbi

‎‎“According to the report, the victim went to fetch water and in the process, one of her legs slipped off the ground, which made her tumble into the well,” the statement read.

‎‎The Director of the Kwara State Fire Service, Prince Falade John Olumuyiwa, expressed sadness over the incident and cautioned parents and guardians against sending underage children to fetch water from domestic wells.

‎‎He warned that such negligence continues to expose minors to avoidable dangers.

‎‎“The general public must be more careful in their day-to-day activities, and parents should desist from sending underage children to fetch water in domestic wells,” he said.

‎‎The incident has once again raised concerns about safety precautions around domestic wells, which remain common in several Ilorin communities due to irregular water supply in the dry season.