Category Nigeria News

In a move to enhance youth welfare, Akwa Ibom has announced the extension of the N20,000 monthly allowance earlier approved for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in the state to all its indigenes serving across the nation.

This was part of the decisions reached at the end of the State Executive Council meeting, held in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State, and presided over by Governor Umo Eno.

According to the excerpts of the meeting made available to the media, the approval is “intended to cushion living expenses and promote the well-being of corps members.”

It stated that the “grant is subject to periodic review based on prevailing circumstances”.

Aniekan Umanah, Commissioner for Information, who endorsed the excerpts, said the Akwa Ibom State Executive Council also raised a Committee to “engage with the management of key investments, including Rafia City Hotels (Four Points by Sheraton), with a view to strengthening mutually beneficial business relationships”.

The committee, which was given 30 days to submit its report, was further mandated to design and propose a “sustainable and efficient management framework for the Ibom Hotels and Apartments brand across Nigeria, including the establishment of a functional and well-composed Board to oversee its operations”.

Last week, Governor Eno approved an increase in the monthly allowance of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members serving in the state from N5,000 to ₦20,000 with effect from August 1, 2025.

Governor Eno stated that the increment was to support the Federal Government’s ₦77,000 monthly allowance, helping Corps members meet their basic needs.

Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Katsina State Command, have busted an inter-state human trafficking syndicate and rescued three young women forced into prostitution.

The agency also arrested three suspected members of the trafficking ring, believed to specialise in the recruitment, harbouring, and trafficking of young girls from various parts of the country to the northern region for sexual exploitation.

The raid was confirmed in a statement, dated 9 July 2025, by NAPTIP’s Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye.

The agency revealed that the suspects were apprehended in one of the prominent hotels in Katsina township (name withheld), where three victims were also rescued. The hotel’s manager and two other workers were taken into custody during the raid. The statement added that victims, aged between 21 and 26, are from Benue and Rivers States.

According to the agency, the bust follows a recent directive from its Director General, Binta Adamu Bello, OON, instructing operatives nationwide to intensify surveillance and intelligence-gathering efforts to tackle increasing cases of inter-state trafficking.

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According to Adekoye, “The Director General had earlier asked that operatives pay close attention to activities around hotels, drinking joints, and motor parks in state capitals to disrupt criminal networks.”

He disclosed that during the raid, the victims were discovered in a small, poorly furnished room within the hotel complex, while the traffickers were found in a well-equipped room within the same premises, allegedly enjoying the proceeds of their exploitation.

Speaking with NAPTIP operatives after their rescue, one of the victims recounted her traumatic experience.

“I was brought here by a woman (name withheld). She promised to give us a job and said we would be paid very well. I asked her the nature of the job, but she said I would find out when I got here. When we arrived, she introduced us to prostitution, which was not what we were told,” she said.

“We sleep with at least 20 men every day, and all the money goes to the chairlady of the place, called Amarachi. Even during our monthly period or when we are sick or tired, they force us to sleep with men. They told us our feelings don’t matter—only the money. They even give us Fearless energy drinks every night to keep us going,” she added in tears.

The victim also disclosed that the traffickers not only took all their earnings but also paid men to keep watch over them, preventing their escape and ensuring their continued exploitation.

Reacting to the operation, NAPTIP Director General Binta Adamu Bello condemned the complicity of certain hotel operators in enabling trafficking rings.

“I wish to commend the operatives of NAPTIP in Katsina for the raid and rescue of the victims. Their stories are painful and sad. They were deceived, recruited, trafficked, and forced into prostitution. While they faced horror every day, their traffickers were somewhere within the same hotel, feeding fat on the proceeds of the exploitation,” Bello said.

She added that the hotel in question would face appropriate legal sanctions in accordance with anti-trafficking laws.

The Senate’s zonal public hearing on the ongoing constitution review process will take place on July 18 and 19th according to the geopolitical zone in the Senate.

On 4 and 5 July, the review’s remaining five geopolitical zones held zononal public hearings.

However, the Senate’s plenary session for the North West, which was originally scheduled to take place in Kano, the state capital, was postponed on Tuesday, last week.

The delay was made in response to Alhaji Aminu Dantata’s passing, who passed away on Saturday, June 28, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and was buried in Madina, Saudi Arabia, on June 30.

Senator Barau Jibrin, the deputy president of the Senate, made the announcement during Wednesday’s plenary.

A Just Federation, According to Akpabio, can be guaranteed by Constitutional Review.

Senator Barau, who presided over the session, urged all senators from the zone’s 21 senatorial districts to actively participate and mobilize their constituents to attend the public hearing, citing it as a crucial opportunity for citizens’ input.

The immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu made former President Muhammadu Buhari Nigeria’s president in 2015.

Mustapha made the statement at the unveiling of the book, “According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience,” written by former presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu.

The former SGF believes that former President Buhari already had 12 million existing votes and that the merger of the legacy parties merely contributed 3 million votes to his victory at the 2015 presidential election.

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“When you sum up the total votes that gave us victory in 2015, the aggregate of the total votes were 15.4 million votes. So, basically, what we brought to the table, the other parties that were in the matter in addition to Buhari’s 12.2 million votes were 3.2 million votes,” Mustapha said at the book launch.

He commended the former president for laying the foundation of reforms for President Tinubu.

In his speech, President Tinubu, who was represented at the event by incumbent Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, hailed Buhari for laying the foundation for the reforms his administration is carrying out.

“Nation building is a relay, the effort of one administration laid the foundation for the next. In this regard, I appreciate the effort of predecessor President Buhari and assure all Nigerians that the reform oriented path will be considered, consolidated and strengthened under this administration,” Tinubu said.

Also speaking at the event, former Nigeria’s Head of State, Yakubu Gowon commended former president Buhari for his disposition during his tenure.

Beyond the unveiling of the book, former Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, who served as the Chief of Staff to the former president, called for a rethink of the selection of who emerges president and governors across the 36 states of the federation.

Former Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo led government officials who served under Buhari between 2015 and 2023 to the unveiling of a book by the former presidential spokesperson.

Other dignitaries who attended the book launch include the SGF, Senator George Akume, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Special Adviser to former President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina,