Category Nigeria News

Dapo Abiodun, the governor of Ogun State, has mandated that all businesses and industries that operate there register foreign nationals with proper documentation.

He claimed that this was a component of the security measures being implemented to combat recent security breaches.

Read more about Insecurity: Sanwo-Olu and other South-West governors meeting in Ibadan here.

Following a strategic security meeting with the state’s top security officials, he gave the order in Iperu, Ikenne Local Government Area.

The governor continued to assure residents of adequate security architecture while claiming that security radar had been deployed to track down illegal mining operations, government game reserves, and forests throughout the state to deter illegal occupiers and miscreants.

He also revealed that in recent days, about 70 foreigners had been detained, primarily from Chad, Sudan, and the Niger Republic, after failing to provide specific justifications for their presence in the state.

“In the last three to four days, the law enforcement agencies have taken into custody about 70 people from Chad and Sudan who are unable to explain their activities here.”

The Nigeria Immigration Service will handle these applicants, according to the statement.
We’ll be urging non-indigene communities to be more vigilant so we can learn more about who is here and why, he continued.

Scavengers’ activities, according to the governor, now pose a greater security threat than they did before.

We discussed the threat of scavengers, which has increased. They will receive particular attention from law enforcement.

He continued, “We will engage them to make sure they are not being used to commit crimes in the state.”

Increased vigilance

Additionally, Governor Abiodun noted that the meeting was set up to address the nation’s current security situation, and that it is crucial for the government to raise security awareness. Ogun receives more than five million daily commuters.

He warned that the government would eventually seize property used by criminals and directed the police to immediately invade “Zanga” in Ijebu-Ode and other similar enclaves throughout the state and clear them out.

The governor mentioned how security personnel had checked the settlement’s occupants’ safety after the recent incident at Ajebo in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area.

He added that criminals wouldn’t be able to use their forests as hideouts without being fully aware that the state’s forests were being protected.

He added that the meeting would be properly engaged and monitored as they went over the possible activities of scrap dealers and scavengers who may now be helping criminal networks.

Illegal miners

Governor Abiodun noted that the government was working with security forces to remove criminals from mining sites and forest reserves because it was aware of how some miners operated as miscreants.

By providing reliable information to security agencies, the governor made an appeal to the residents to actively support community policing efforts.

Security is not the exclusive responsibility of security agents. We must collaborate with them.

We must report anything suspicious to prompt response from law enforcement. He said, “We must be our brother’s keeper and be observant.”

Governor Abiodun expressed confidence in his administration’s ability to provide security agencies with the necessary logistics, as well as cautioned Obas and Baales against giving government land to strangers, assuring that any traditional ruler held accountable for harming the state’s interests.

He praised security agencies for their cooperation and synergy, which, according to him, has significantly improved the peace Ogun State is currently experiencing.

The governor praised the swift rescue of kidnapped victims in Kwara State, praised President Bola Tinubu, and security forces.

In response to concerns about rising insecurity in various regions of the nation, the meeting was held.

Pope Leo XIV makes a recent visit to Turkey to protest inequality and a sense of exclusion, despite some progress being made in restoring their rights.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan frequently speaks of Turkey’s 86 million-strong, officially secular nation as saying, “99 percent of the population is Muslim.”

Yuhanna Aktas, president of the Assyrian Union, a group that represents Assyrian Christians in southeast Turkey, said, “Every time he says that, I feel excluded.

“We are not viewed as citizens of the highest order.”

According to historians, there are currently about 100,000 Christians in Turkey, up from nearly four million at the start of the 20th century, largely as a result of forced exile or massacres as modern Turkey emerges.

Pope Leo will visit Istanbul’s Assyrian Orthodox Mor Ephrem church, which was officially opened two years ago, where he will meet with local Christian leaders.

Turkey’s first new church constructed since 1923, the state granted the land, despite the country becoming a republic.

Despite a legal ban on non-Muslims from holding office, Christian minorities have also had trouble gaining representation. Many civil service positions have been closed to them.

According to Yetvart Danzikyan, editor-in-chief of the Armenian weekly Agos, “the only non-Muslim senior official in Turkey today is a local administrator from the Armenian community.”

The civil rights situation is adequately illustrated by this lone instance.

Aside from the lake, the Turkey Basilica illuminates early church life.

The Insiders of the Enemies

Christians and Jews were frequently referred to as “the enemies inside” by some government officials and media outlets for decades after Turkey’s independence, and they were also the target of discrimination and violence until the early 2000s.

And even today, the term “Armenian” is still occasionally used as an insult.

The London-based Minority Rights Group (MRG) stated in its 2024 report on Turkey that “non-Muslims were consistently discriminated against because the proponents of Turkish nationalism deemed them incapable of becoming Turks because of their&nbsp, religious identity.

The government has been making an effort to address that, according to Laki Vingas, the founder of Rumvader, a Greek community support group.

“The state and we have worked together for 20 years to correct the injustices of the past. He told AFP, “We have no trouble meeting with the authorities because this process is not yet complete,” despite the fact that he had previously told them.

Despite the community’s unsettling circumstances, Danzikyan noted, such as the growing trend toward conservatism under Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted government,

Violence has occurred: Hrant Dink, an Armenian journalist, was shot dead in Istanbul in 2007 and a young Armenian was killed while serving in the military four years later.

Armenians were threatened during the Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020, and two gunmen shot dead and injured two people inside an Istanbul Catholic church in 2024.

READ MORE: US, Ukraine, Talks About Trump’s War Plan in Switzerland

Violence

The controversial decision to convert Istanbul’s famous 4th-century Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque in 2020, according to Danzikyan, was another unsettling development.

He cited the closure of an Istanbul theological college in 1971, which had given the church its sole facility for training clergy in Turkey, as well as the possibility of reopening the Greek Orthodox seminary.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the subject of years-long blockade, brought it up in September at the White House, with US President Donald Trump promising to assist in reopening the case.

Despite a ban on such gatherings in public spaces, Turkish civil society is more willing to commemorate the Armenian genocide, a term that Turkey has vehemently rejected.

Vingas praised the emergence of “a much more open society, primarily in Istanbul,” where the majority of Turkey’s Christians reside, saying, “More and more people are asking questions than they are holding onto their prejudices.”

Former IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu’s counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, has criticised the move to the Sokoto Custodial Centre.

On Monday, Ejimakor addressed Kanu’s ability to pursue his appeal from Sokoto while speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief program, describing the transfer as “surprising” and “insensitive.”

“It surprised me, and I think everyone else did it, that he was taken from Abuja and transported to Sokoto, which is in the northernmost part of North-West Nigeria,” I said.

You’ll start to wonder if Sokoto can pursue this appeal. You’ll inquire about how he will go about filing it, he said.

READ ALSO: [UPDATED] Court Sentences Nnamdi Kanu To Life Imprisonment, Claims IPOB Leader To Be An “International Terrorist”

In accordance with Justice James Omotosho’s ruling, the Department of State Services moved Kanu to the Sokoto facility on Friday. According to a security source, the transfer occurred after his terrorism conviction and sentence.

Jurisdiction-related Questions

The lawyer argued that the Abuja Division remained the appropriate venue while the Sokoto Division of the Court of Appeal claimed that the case was not in the hands of the court of appeal.

The judge is not to blame for placing him in Sokoto. The executive branch, particularly the Correctional Service, is in charge once a sentence is issued. These concerns were perhaps not taken into account in that decision. His rights are being treated very poorly. Prisoners still have rights.

“Can Nnamdi Kanu successfully file his appeal or even start it from that location in Sokoto?” No, that’s the answer. In an effort to improve the detention conditions, what might transpire in the upcoming days or weeks.

There are other prisons in Abuja, according to the statement. He claimed that having those amenities nearby his relatives and legal advisors would have been better.

Ejimakor explained that Kanu’s presence was required unless he hired a lawyer, and that filing an appeal required several physical tasks.

He must file a notice of appeal, request transcripts, pay for them, review them, and participate in other court-related matters.

He said, “He has not yet indicated that he is going to hire any lawyer or inform anyone.”

Ejimakor claimed that Kanu’s lengthy trial demonstrated the system’s resolve to pursue him. He claimed that the development “demonstrates the system’s disdain for him.”

Judgement in the court

On Thursday, Justice Omotosho found Kanu guilty of terrorism on seven counts and gave him a life sentence.

Kanu’s broadcasts were used by the court to sabotage infrastructure, threaten diplomatic missions, and incite attacks against security forces.

Justice Omotosho ruled that self-determination couldn’t be achieved through violence and that Nigeria remained an indivisible state. He ordered Kanu’s transmitter to be taken away and placed him in a secure location without access to the internet.

READ MORE: “We Are Heading To Appeal,” Kanu’s Lawyer To Challenge Judgment

Kanu’s legal team has pledged to appeal the verdict, calling the sentence excessive.

Ejimakor criticized Kanu’s move to Sokoto in a statement posted on his X handle. Kanu was far removed from his supporters, family, and legal team, according to him.

In 2015, Kanu was first detained for treason and terrorism. Following a military raid on his home in 2017, he fled Nigeria. In disputed circumstances, he was detained again in Kenya in 2021 and later reappapprehended in Nigeria.

More than 8, 000 government employees will take their Computer-Based Test promotion exams starting on November 25, 2025, according to the Federal Capital Territory Administration.

Emeka Ezeh, the chairman of the FCT Civil Service Commission, said the exam would be open to staff members from 165 different Administration and Federal Capital Development Authority cadres.

The exams will last five days, with Sunday as the end date, according to Ezeh.

This week will see the participation of more than 8, 000 federal employees in promotion exams.

The National Open University Study Center along Kubwa Road, Abuja, will host the promotion exams for five days starting on Tuesday, November 25 through Saturday, November 29.

Remember that Lere Olayinka, the Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister of Public Communication and News Media, announced the results of the first-ever Computer-Based Promotion Examination that took place on August 12, 2025.

According to him, 49 deputy directors were approved by Minister Nyesom Wike and elevated to the position of director across various departments.

He continued, “The exercise was intended to clear the backlog of promotion arrears for Grade Level 16 workers from 2023 to 2025.”

Ezeh noted that the new promotion cycle was authorized by the FCT Minister, who authorized the conclusion of it quickly in 2024.

He claimed Wike “provided the nod” as part of staff motivation, “ensuring that all cadres receive the long-awaited process.”

He added that the FCT Minister approved the FCT Civil Service Commission’s request to finish the 2024 promotion exercise for FCT/FCDA employees across all cadres as quickly as possible as part of staff motivation.

He further stated that the promotion would be conducted using the Computer-Based Test, adding that this would advance the FCT Minister’s approval of the newly developed digital platform for promotion exams.

He added that the administration embraces promotions in its entirety as a digital platform.

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The 38 victims who were saved from an attack on a Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in the state’s Eruku region have been received by the governor of Kwara, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
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Most of the victims appeared elderly and worn-out at the Government House clinic, where medical staff members treated them.

Read more about Kwara Church holding its first service following a bandit attack and confirming the arrest of 38 worshipers kidnapped.

One of the freed victims described the bandits’ cruelty as harrowing.

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The man explained that it was challenging to break free from the bandits because those who were in need of them were given drugs, water, food, and those who were weak were taken into the hospital.

One of the church’s pastor thanked the federal and state governments for allowing the worshipers to leave.
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On his arrival at the clinic, the state governor spoke with some of the victims and assessed the situation of those receiving care inside.
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He continued, there was no time to celebrate the victims’ release because they had been held captive in other states.
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He thanked President Tinubu for his assistance in bringing the captives free.
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38 worshipers were set free on Sunday, according to the Kwara State Government.

However, it did not detail how the abducted people regained their freedom in a statement signed by Rafiu Ajakaye, his chief press secretary.

During a church service on Tuesday, gunmen abducted 38 worshipers and killed three people in an attack on the parish.

Many residents fled into nearby bushes for safety, according to eyewitnesses in the community who reported to Channels Television that the attackers stormed the area “suddenly and heavily armed.”

The bandits had requested $3 billion to release the victims, but the ransom was later reduced to $760 million.

Additionally, the attack sparked a protest by the neighborhood’s angry youths.

President Tinubu awaited further security updates on the kidnapped Kebbi schoolgirls and the attack on the church worshippers as he delayed making his scheduled travels to Johannesburg in South Africa and Luanda in Angola in response to the attack and others.

He also gave instructions to the police to pursue bandits who attacked worshippers.

The church held its first service on Sunday, where it clarified how many people had been abducted before the victims’ release was made public.

Church leaders encouraged members to attend the service as a show of faith and resilience, according to Michael Agbabiaka, the church secretary.