Category Nigeria News

Due to the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest’s severe gridlock and road closures, motorists were stranded across parts of Abuja on Monday.

Demonstrators resisted the release of Nnamdi Kanu as the protest, which was led by activist Omoyele Sowore, started early in the day at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja.

The Shehu Shagari Way and the nearby roads leading to the city center, as confirmed by our correspondent on the ground, were inaccessible.

In videos, drivers struggled to navigate sluggish roads around Nyanya and Karu as they continued to build up traffic.

Read more about Protest: Live Bullets Were Fired At Us, Brother Beaten, Arrested, and Sowore.

Security personnel arrived early, dispersing the crowd, and firing tear gas and live rounds. Eagle Square, Unity Fountain, and the Three Arms Zone were all well-deployed, as evidenced by this.

Unity Fountain, the march’s starting point, was blocked off while access to the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, and the Three Arms Zone was blocked. Heavy-armed personnel patrolled the area, with heavily armed personnel denying entry to motorists and pedestrians.

A group of soldiers and police officers also shot tear gas at a crowd outside the Utako secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists. Witnesses claimed that the crowd did not participate in the demonstration but quickly dispersed when security personnel entered.

Prior to that, Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court of Nigeria had issued an interim injunction halting demonstrations in Aso Rock Villa, the National Assembly, the Court of Appeal, Eagle Square, and Shehu Shagari Way.

Prior to this, police had warned that any violation would result in arrests and that incitement would be tracked using digital evidence.

Sowore refuted Kanu’s assertions that a valid injunction existed, and questioned why no protesters had been ordered to release him. Additionally, he revealed that after the injunction was formally served, there were more than 100 attorneys ready to challenge it.

The #FreeNnamdiKanu protests’ Unity Fountain in Abuja have been blocked by security forces made up of the police and army.

Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was among the protesters who had gathered in the country’s capital on Monday and demanded his release.

The Department of State Services (DSS) has been keeping track of Kanu since his re-arrest in June 2021. He is the controversial IPOB leader.

On October 20, Sahara Reporters’ activist Omoyele Sowore announced a protest march to the presidential villa in response to Kanu’s continued detention.

Channels Television crews were monitoring the protest as early as 8:09 am.

The protest’s starting point was seen being blocked by police personnel. Additionally, the fully-armed security guards who patrolled the area prevented both pedestrians and motorists from getting inside.

In addition, all roads in the nation’s capital were blocked before reaching the federal secretariat and the three-arms zone.

A crowd (not protesters) gathered around the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat in the Utako area when a combined team of the army and police teargassed them.

Watch the video below:

The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has been given a 14-day termination notice by the minister of works, Dave Umahi, for what he described as subpar construction and the near-demise of the Port Harcourt-Aba Road.

Umahi, who gave the directive during a tour of the federal road projects in Rivers State, expressed frustration with the 43-kilometer dual carriageway’s deterioration.

Despite receiving numerous ministry warnings, he accused the construction company of breaking engineering standards.

The Minister lamented that the project, which the previous administration inherited, has turned into a source of embarrassment while standing on a clearly distressed section of the road.

We are at the ripe for the CCECC-constructed Port Harcourt-bound Aba route to be completely destroyed.

He said, “We’ve been putting in money to finish one carriageway, and this job was inherited.”

Umahi claims that the ministry and CCECC had reached a deal to use asphalt on the main carriageway and concrete on the shoulders for added durability.

He claimed that the company had already failed on sections that had been completed two years ago by laying binder courses over protracted stretches without finishing the shoulders or applying the final wear coat, a ruse that had already led to errors.

Umahi announced that the ministry would now de-scope the Port Harcourt-bound section from CCECC’s contract and re-assign it to qualified indigenous contractors capable of producing high-quality work after what he described as more than 20 official warnings.

Read more about security in Anambra — Soludo: Everyone Can Sleep With Their Eyes Closed.

He vowed that CCECC must either fix the errors at their own expense or risk shut down all of its ongoing projects in Nigeria.

“I will direct the Ministry to scout for very competent indigenous contractors to handle the Port Harcourt-bound lane,” Mahahi said. CCECC will be subject to sanctions, including the termination of all of their contracts nationwide, if they do not mill out the defective binder and replace it.

The Minister also made it known that all correspondence exchanged with CCECC would be made public to demonstrate transparency and safeguard public funds, while stating that the government would not tolerate any form of sabotage against Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s infrastructure renewal agenda.

The future of the Igbo people needs to be the subject of open discussion among all parties, according to Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State. &nbsp,

Soludo stated on Sunday Politics on Channels Television that he does not support separatist sentiments or agitation for an independent Igbo nation.

“I have a strong opinion about the agitation issue and the Igbo land separatist position. He remarked, “I don’t believe that because I’m a full-blooded Igbo man.”

The governor urged everyone in Igbo land to talk openly about what best serves the interests of the region, even those who oppose secession.

[Nnamdi Kanu] Police Alerted to Protest Near Aso Rock Villa, NASS

“But I want to talk to each other, and I’ve already asked why I need Nnamdi Kanu to sit with everyone else because no one has better rights than the other.”

We are all Igbos and have the right to our opinions, and those who oppose us leaving Nigeria will debate whether we are better served outside of Nigeria or inside it. I believe that Nigeria needs the Igbo man and that the Igbo man needs Nigeria. He said, “I believe that the Igbo man needs Africa and Africa needs the Igbo man, and I believe that the Igbo man needs the world.

The Igbo people have historically been referred to as itinerant, hardworking, and tolerant, and intolerance or violent protests won’t lead to real progress, according to the governor of Anambra.

Itinerant people cannot be itinerant because we are everyone’s village. For those who attempt a failed protest, that’s what I think. The governor addressed Seun Okinbaloye, the host’s host, saying, “I am the governor of a state, and mine is to govern.”

Social activists have a job, and I have one. There is a process for it to pass because I have had my say and do so in the way that I do.

Soludo said the area must take advantage of the chance to form a collective vision for the future while expressing hope that Kanu will eventually regain his freedom.

We all sit down at a round table and ask our differing viewpoints about Igbo land when Nnamdi Kanu comes out, as we believe, and when he does, in our opinion.

Wherever you go and don’t find comfort, you have a liveable and prosperous homeland to return to, according to his statement. “My vision is that we should build a liveable and prosperous homeland.

The planned nationwide protest tagged #FreeNnamdiKanu, which is scheduled to take place on Monday, has received mixed reviews. Kanu is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Members of the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow movement are being advised by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) to refrain from vandalizing crucial national assets and infrastructure (CNAI) in the Federal Capital Territory.

Read more recently:   Nnamdi Kanu: Police Warn Against Protest Near Aso Rock Villa; NASS.

In response to Omoyele Sowore’s plans to stage a protest on Monday for the release of the self-declared Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, the NSCDC FCT Commandant, Olusola Odumosu, disclosed this in a statement.

Odumosu urged people to “adhere strictly to the provisions of the court order,” whether they were in favor or against the planned rally on Sunday.

In a statement signed by the command’s spokesperson, DSC Monica Ojobi, he was quoted as saying, “The corps will not tolerate any form of destruction, vandalism, or theft of public and private facilities in the name of protest.”

Massive deployment

According to him, the Corps has massively deployed officers and men to safeguard all CNAI and ensure residents’ protection before, during, and after the protest.

“We are as always prepared to make sure there are no incidents of property destruction or threats to the stability of the area.”

The deployed officers and men were chosen from specialist units, including Area Commands and Divisions, and were given thorough instruction on the duties and safety measures during the rally, he claimed.

Further, Odumosu added that law enforcement had been instructed not to shoot, harass, or intimidate any law-abiding citizens, but that vandals and criminals trying to hijack the situation would not be tolerated.

He also urged the deployed men to behave morally by carrying out the corps’ duties in a non-kinetic manner.

However, the commandant cautioned those who wanted to hijack or obstruct the planned peaceful protest to abstain.

According to him, anyone found with criminal intent will be detained and dealt with in accordance with current laws.

He urged all law-abiding citizens to carry on their daily lives because deployments have been made to strategically important locations and hot spots to uphold order.

Pro-Nnamdi Kanu Protest

Despite a Federal High Court’s ban on demonstrations near important government locations in Abuja, Sowore had vowed to carry out the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest.

Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB leader, has been in custody since his extradition from Kenya in 2021, and is facing terrorism charges, and the protest is scheduled for Monday, October 20, 2025.

According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), its agents have discovered illicit drugs that were hidden in female clothing, electrical bulbs, and frozen snails.

The shipment had a destination in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the agency.

Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, made this disclosure in a statement on Sunday.

He claimed that the interceptions were carried out by a courier service in Lagos and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA).

Babafemi revealed that two suspects with connections to the attempted robberies had been detained.

After 15 skunk parcels were discovered hidden in 10 enormous rechargeable electrical bulbs that had been prepared for shipment to the DRC, one of them was identified as Boladale Riliwan, a cargo agent, who was detained on October 7th.

Olawale Oyebola Hakeemot, a 48-year-old UK-based public health assistant, was detained on October 12th at Terminal 2 of the MMIA, Ikeja, according to him.

Read more: Lagos Navy Seizes Boat With 4, 000 Litres of Suspected Diesel.

When she attempted to board a Qatar Airways flight to Manchester, United Kingdom, operatives discovered 2,300 Tramadol pills hidden in frozen snails inside her luggage.

The statement added that on October 16th, NDLEA officers blocked a syndicate’s attempt to import 810 bromazepam pills from a woman’s clothing to the United States via a courier service in Lagos.

With 38, 270 tramadol pills concealed in his Honda Civic’s spare tire, boot, and door compartments, Babafemi claimed that operatives in Adamawa State had detained Bello Buba at an NDLEA checkpoint in Namtari, Yola South Local Government Area.

He explained that the suspect traveled from Benin Republic to Nigeria in order to smuggle the drugs.

Between October 12 and October 13, the NDLEA reported the destruction of 53,250 kilograms of skunk grown on a 21. 3 hectares of cannabis farmland in Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti State.

Three suspects, Matthew Emmanuel (26), James Moses (27), and Israel Samuel (20), were among the 70 bags of skunk that weighed 1,140 kilograms.

On October 12, 2017, Akure, Ondo State, in Aponmu Forest Reserve, Akure, the operation was called for because of another skunk destruction of 17,400 kilograms of farmland.

At Apata-Ako, Igboora, NDLEA agents detained Aliyu Muhammed (50), Babarinde Segun (32), Ogunbiyi Sanjo (30), and Ajani Oluro (30), along with 596 kilograms of skunk.

He claimed that on October 16 in Odo-Oyan, Igangan, Salako Oluwatobi (30) and Jacob Afolabi (30) were both found with 273 kilograms of the same substance.

Joseph Andrew was detained on October 15 with 88 kilograms of skunk in Ogun State, and Festus Udoh (42) was detained along Onitsha-Owerri Road in Imo State with 13, 000 pills of opioids.

On October 18, the agency discovered 74.5 kilograms of skunk in Umuogbo-Agu Village, Enugu State, in Joseph Chukwujamaa’s store.

On October 18, Babafemi further reported that 11 bags of skunk weighing 117 kilograms were recovered from Ramoni Olukowi’s base in Mushin.

He continued, stating that 80 000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were intercepted in a container that the NDLEA had placed on watch during a joint operation with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies at Apapa Port on October 14.

Babafemi added that the organization continued its nationwide campaign to promote the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) in schools, workplaces, places of worship, and communities.

He included St. Peter’s College, Olomore, Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Commercial Grammar School, Igogo Ekiti, Government Technical College, Ahoada, Rivers, Junior Secondary Smart School, Kasarawa, Katsina, and Government Technical College, Ahoada, Ogun State, among others.

Brig., the NDLEA Chairman and CEO. Officers in the affected commands were commended for their arrests and seizures, according to Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd).