In commemoration of the 2025 UN Human Rights Day, the Lagos State Government has approved the release and computation of sentences of 91 convicts.
This is in exercise of its power of clemency.
The beneficiaries are inmates who have served more than 70 per cent of their punishment in correctional facilities.
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However, 80 of those convicts are for immediate release.
The State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN), disclosed this at a press conference organised by the Ministry of Justice and the Directorate of Citizens’ Rights on Wednesday.
The AG said the directorate, which handles a diverse range of matters, has, in the last year, successfully resolved 1,200 cases.
“In 1999, when Nigeria returned to constitutional democracy, Lagos state recognised the urgent need to rebuild public trust and to restore the people’s confidence in institutions meant to protect their human rights. It was against this backdrop that the Directorate of Citizens Rights was created,” he said.
“It was a deliberate democratic intervention by the then governor of Lagos State, His Excellency, Senator Bola Tinubu, now the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, designed to empower citizens with the knowledge of their rights, provide an accessible mechanism for redress, and ensure that abuses associated with military rule never again become part of our civil reality.
“The Directorate of Citizens’ Rights served as a bridge between a past defined by suppression and a future grounded in legal protection, accountability and justice for all.
“Over the years, the Directorate has evolved into one of the most important pillars of Lagos State Justice architecture. Though it began with five foundational units-the Citizens Mediation Unit, the Public Defender Unit, the Human Rights Unit, the Consumer Rights Protection Unit, and the Justice Now Information Unit- many of these units have since matured into full-fledged agencies,” the SAN added.
Speaking further, the commissioner said, “In the last year, the directorate received approximately 1,950 petitions, successfully resolved 1,200 cases through mediation, while the others remain under investigation or active litigation.
“The directory currently handles about 50 fundamental rights suit before the Federal High Court and the State High Court covering such issues as alleged police misconduct, unlawful detention, property rights violation, and denial of parental access.”
While noting that the directorate of citizens right had expanded its human rights profile significantly, to uphold the dignity and liberty of every resident, the AG urged residents of Lagos to respect the right of others and remain law abiding pledging that the directorate of citizens right and the entire justice sector in the state will on its part continue to pursue fairness, equality, accountability and equal access to justice.
About 200,000 people have fled eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels surged into the strategic city of Uvira Wednesday, killing at least 74 people and threatening a US-led peace deal signed days earlier.
Jojo Siwa and Chris Hughes started dating shortly after they both appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in April 2025, and the Dance Moms star has said the show ‘kickstarted’ their relationship
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Jojo Siwa shares how she’s protecting her romance with Chris Hughes(Image: Chris Hughes Instagram)
Jojo Siwa has opened up about her romance with Chris Hughes, revealing what she does to ensure their relationship isn’t ‘stressful’. The former Dance Moms star met the Love Islander on Celebrity Big Brother in April this year.
As Jojo came third on the ITV show, many expected her to be booked and busy following the show, but Jojo has revealed that she will sometimes say no to TV appearances. Though her relationship with Chris is solid, she is taking all precautions to ensure it remains so, and will turn down TV opportunities if she feels it clashes with that.
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Talking to The Sun, Jojo said: “Something important to both of us, is that nothing comes between us, is that nothing makes anything stressful or feels that we have to do something.”
The dancer is tipped to appear in the next series of Strictly Come Dancing, having already done Dancing With The Stars in the States. But the paper reported that she would only take up job offers if they didn’t jeopardise her relationship with Chris.
There has been a lot speculation and conversation about Jojo and Chris’ relationship since it became public. Some have questioned whether the relationship is real, as Jojo is ten years younger than Chris and she identified as a lesbian before doing the show.
However, Jojo has said that she and Chris don’t pay much attention to what others are saying. She said that there would always be speculation about “anyone who meets someone on television” but that she and Chris are “bobbing and weaving and ducking and diving” all the rumours.
She added that she felt meeting on the show “kickstarted” the relationship, even though they didn’t start dating until it ended. Jojo said she and Chris never “dated” in the traditional sense, highlighting that they didn’t do a “first date dinner”. Instead they did Big Brother, then had a month apart and then went to Mexico together and started dating.
Now, they spend most of their time together, which Chris has admitted involves a lot of flying. But he added that he loves flying out to see Jojo in America, as her father is “the older version of me”. According to The Sun, Chris and Jojo’s father, Tom, both enjoy playing golf together in Palm Springs.
This conversation happened shortly after Chris revealed that the run-up to Christmas would be the longest the two have been apart. While Jojo is in America, Chris is the UK and will fly out to be with his girlfriend after five weeks of separation.
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Around the same time, Jojo’s ex Kath Ebbs and their new partner Tilly Lucas-Rodd fooled fans on TikTok by pretending to get engaged and flashing matching rings. Jojo broke up with Kath shortly after Big Brother finished.
England’s men’s and women’s teams were beaten in their opening games of the FIH Hockey Pro League in Dublin.
The men lost 4-1 to Germany while the women were defeated 3-0 by Belgium in a disappointing start to proceedings.
Nick Bandurak put the men level against Germany after conceding early but they had no response once Justus Weigand restored the German lead.
And in very windy conditions, the women were on the back foot after Stephanie Vanden Borre fired Belgium ahead.
England were still in contention in the final quarter, and substituted their goalkeeper to force a way back, but Belgium’s Charlotte Englebert slammed into an empty net to put the result beyond doubt.
EastEnders legend Anita Dobson has revealed that Queen won’t tour again – but an ABBA-style avatar show is on the cards.
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Anita Dobson with her husband Sir Brian May(Image: Getty Images)
Anita Dobson, 76, has just celebrated her silver wedding anniversary with Queen guitarist Brian May, 78. She told The Mirror: “They will do little bits and bobs, but they won’t do those big tours. We are all getting old.” The news comes a few weeks after drummer Roger Taylor, 76, confirmed: “We are resting at the moment.”
Pressed further on whether Queen would be “resting forever,” he added: “At one point we will be.” Meanwhile Brian, who had a minor stroke last year, also said last week that Queen weren’t talking about touring, adding: “I’ve done 50 years of it.” He said he was enjoying pursuing his interests in astrophysics and animal rights, as well as spending time with his grandchildren and his animals. But, to put fans’ minds at rest, he made it clear he was still making music, saying: “I love to play. Everybody knows I love to play.”
READ MORE: Brian May’s wife Anita Dobson’s brutal realisation after quitting London
Anita’s bombshell revelations also come as singer Adam Lambert, who stepped into Freddie Mercury’s shoes – has been diversifying into musical theatre – giving critically acclaimed performances in Cabaret and Jesus Christ Superstar. But Anita, who rose to fame playing Angie Watts, landlady of The Queen Vic, in EastEnders, says fans may soon see the band performing Bohemian Rhapsody and other hits as they have never seen them before – as avatars.
Asked if they would be having an avatar show, like Abba’s Voyage – the highly successful virtual concert – she said: “Yeah talk has been happening. Of course it would work.” But she is not 100% sold on avatars, adding: “I have seen the ABBA show, except that it is a hologram. After a while, you are absolutely certain it is a hologram and I do miss seeing the people.
“There is no spontaneity, they can’t do anything different. What would Freddie [Mercury] make of it? Well, technology is getting more and more clever and futuristic.” But Anita has genuine doubts about AI technology.
“I don’t know how I feel about technology and AI,” she says. “In some ways it is wonderful for medical research, but in other ways I think it has taken away the desire for people to want to talk to each other.” And she fears that the lack of human interaction could damage our society. You see people glued to their phones. If we are not sociable then we are not a society anymore,” she said.
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“I think it is killing a lot of interaction. I see children sitting next to each other on the sofa and texting each other and not talking. What is that about?”
READ MORE: Anita Dobson admits ‘it was overwhelming’ in first TV interview after receiving OBE
Rocketed to overnight fame by their 1997 hit Slam Dunk (Da Funk), the next four years brought a whirlwind of success and scandal for Five’s Abz Love, Ritchie Neville, Jason ‘J’ Brown, Sean Conlon and Scott Robinson – but then things went badly wrong…
Boyband Five are a numbers game. Members Abz Love, Ritchie Neville, Jason ‘J’ Brown, Sean Conlon and Scott Robinson are fresh off the back of a 25-date reunion tour, playing to more than 250,000 fans. Put together and signed to RCA records in 1997, the popstars shot to success and enjoyed eleven top 10 singles, four top 10 albums and a BRIT Award. They released hits When The Lights Go Out, Keep On Movin’, Everybody Get Up and many more in super quick succession, followed by the intense white hot spotlight of fame. ‘It was a hot, fast, rocket that took off. It ended abruptly, and proceeded for the next two decades to completely affect our lives,” says Richie, now 46. Indeed, at the start J was 20, Abz, Richie and Scott were 17, and Sean was just 15. By 2001 the band had burned out, with some suffering various mental health issues. 24 years in the wilderness followed as they individaully tried to piece their lives back together after.
READ MORE: ‘Liam Payne’s death is an absolute tragedy,’ says star of Simon Cowell boyband Five
J says: “It’s better this time around in all respects. We’re all in a different headspace, individually and collectively. We’re older and crucially we all 100% actually want to be in it this time. We’ve got brilliant people around us. “The first time around we were fending for ourselves a lot. We were young kids. We didn’t have any idea about where we were. We were thrust into fame, taken out of our lives, put in a house together and thrown into this crazy thing. We were given half an hour’s media training above a pub in Primrose Hill with [TV presenter] Kate Thornton.”
Sean interjects: “I was 15 years old, straight from school. To go from that to instant fame, with no space away from it or days off was wild.” Richie agrees, saying: “Problems were going to arise, someone was going to crack. Or go nuts.” Having too much of everything too soon, J feels they were destined to implode. Unlike bands like Boyzone, who at least did school tours and slowly built a fan base, they had no warm up, according to Scott.
He says: “We signed our record deal, did a Radio One Roadshow as our first ever gig, and then the very next gig we did was the Smash Hits Pollwinners Party, which we won. We were playing arenas from the get-go, it was just mental. I left the band at 21, still a baby, I’d travelled the world and had a breakdown. No wonder it took us so long to get us back onto the stage. We had to fix our broken minds for 20 years. Piece ourselves back together.”
But they have clearly healed and their strong performances are matched by a strong mental outlook. J says: “The first time around it felt like one big fight, the five of us against each other sometimes.” The reunion has helped Richie to make sense of the past. He says: “My memories of Five would have always had a jagged edge if we hadn’t got back together. I’d have always thought, ‘what was that and why did it happen to me?’ Now it makes sense.”
And it has helped to Abz to appreciate their talent. He says: “I am starting to truly believe that we are the best band ever. We rock, we’re so good.” But their wilderness years saw them take quite diverse paths. J threw himself into archaeological studies, Richie opened a restaurant, and the others remained in the music industry, writing and performing as solo artists – although Abz was the only one to release a solo album.
Scott says: “I always thought it was my fault we had broken up, I carried that for years. I spent a long time afterwards trying to get the band back together. But it was never the right time. It would never have worked.” They did get back together briefly in 2013 – although without J – for the Big Reunion Tour, which also featured nostalgic bands 911, Atomic Kitten, Honeyz, Liberty X, Blue, and B*Witched. J says: “I never thought I’d do anything like this again. I’ve spent 25 years going in probably the furthest direction anyone could ever imagine from Five. I was so tainted against the music industry. I was disgusted by it and hated what it had done to me and my friends.”
Meanwhile, Richie spiralled into a drink problem when Five split. He says: “I was enjoying a lot of drinking. Then I got depressed. Then I drank every day to forget. Three years I did that for. I’d sit and think, ‘what are you going to do next?’ Like J, I didn’t want to get back into the music industry. Simon Cowell rang and said he wanted me. I just couldn’t do it. It was the wilderness years. I was completely and utterly lost. My partner at the time said to me, ‘Rich, I have never seen anyone as lost as you’.”
When Five announced their return back in February, with all five members on board, fans went wild. They were not disappointed, with the band’s 2025 tour winning five star reviews. Sean says: “The songs have stood the test of time. People love them now.” He also thinks the band members are now better equipped to appreciate each other. “When we met up for the first time, I instantly felt this magic,” he says. “We appreciate each other now. In the 90s we couldn’t, we were so young. Rabbits trapped in the headlights. Our management definitely made mistakes in the past, but one thing they got right was putting us together. We’ll always thank them for that.”
Now 46, Scott tells The Mirror: “Liam Payne is an absolute tragedy.” Liam died, aged 31, on 16 October 2024, after falling from a fourth floor hotel balcony in Argentina. Richie, also 46, adds: “It did resonate. And I think it affected us slightly differently than perhaps it would somebody ‘normal’, because we’re in a band – and it was in a hotel room.”
They certainly understand how easily partying can tip over into alcohol abuse, as the pressures of fame saw Five (also known as 5ive) earn a reputation for wild behaviour off-stage. Richie and J, now 49, were arrested and charged after a drunken brawl in Dublin and they once attacked each other with baseball bats and took mentor Simon Cowell’s car for a joyride.
In 2001, with over 20 million records sold, the band split, after “serious mental health issues” for Sean, now 44, while Scott “had a breakdown”. But today they are very grown-up versions of their former selves.
Scott who instigated the reunion in late 2024, recalls: “I phoned Abz [now 46]. And the five of us met up to speak as friends. Too much time had passed, where I would look at Abz or J’s number on my phone and think, ‘Why haven’t I called? Once upon a time they were my brothers’.” Richie adds: “It was 24 years since we’d all been in the same room at the same time.”
And there is no danger of them being silenced any time soon. On Sunday, they were the surprise guests at Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball at London’s O2 Arena, while this weekend they will perform on Strictly Come Dancing. Richie adds: “We enjoy each show like it’s the last one we’ll ever do. Because it could all end. The first time around I didn’t ever consider that.”
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Sean adds: “But nobody anticipated what our songs would mean to people so many years on. The industry got that wrong.” Some of their most loyal fans have grown up with Five. Scott says: “We once gave a group of girls some yellow blankets outside a hotel, because they were freezing and in the rain – and they came back to see us this year. They were 16 then – this time they brought their kids. It’s crazy.”
And Richie says: “This tour has healed us all, in every way. The way I see it, we made a lot of people happy… and nobody got headbutted.”
READ MORE: Simon Cowell recalls calling Liam Payne’s parents after heartbreaking death
