Category Nigeria News

Justice and Empowerment Initiatives has accused the Lagos State Taskforce of demanding one million naira from residents of Oworonshoki communities whose houses were slated for demolition, allegedly promising to spare the structures if the money is paid.

The accusation was made by the organisation’s Co-Executive Director, Megan Chapman, on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme.

“What we are hearing is that the Taskforce is telling people to bring one million naira and they will spare their houses, but if you can’t bring it, they bring it down,” Chapman said during the programme.

The Lagos State Taskforce has yet to respond to the allegation.

Watch the video below:

Former presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Publisher, Dele Momodu, says a last-minute disruption to his planned road trip to Cotonou may have saved him from being caught in the failed coup attempt in Benin Republic.

Momodu stated this on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, explaining that he was originally scheduled to be inside Benin Republic at the exact period the coup scare was unfolding.

He said the unexpected setback that stopped his 5 a.m. departure “was what saved us.”

Momodu narrated that the entire episode felt unreal, noting that he had already mapped out a familiar travel route.

According to him, “Yesterday to me was very surreal. I was going to wake up in the morning at 5 am to head straight to Cotonou, have a quick breakfast, and then head out to Lome, and then from Lome head out to Ghana. I had done that trip too many times, and it’s something I love to do, especially on Sundays, because there would be no traffic.”

He, however, said trouble began the night before the journey when he discovered that his driver only had a photocopy of the vehicle particulars. The missing document triggered a frantic search.

Momodu said, “Unfortunately, the night before I had all my international but then I asked my driver for the vehicle particulars, and he only had the photocopy. I wasn’t comfortable with that. I searched everywhere, my two offices in Lagos. I searched in the night, and maybe around 11 or thereabout, I decided that look, we must have botched the trip.”

READ ALSO: Benin Arrests Dozen Soldiers Over Coup Attempt – Sources

He explained that he immediately called his travel partners to cancel the journey. “I called my friend Rotimi… whom we were travelling together with, along with another friend… I called everybody in the middle of the night and said I’m sorry we won’t be able to make the trip, and that was what saved us,” he said.

Linking the experience to his faith, Momodu said he believes divine intervention prevented him from being inside Benin Republic during the unrest. “I was born in an Aladura church. So I believed in spirituality, and I believe that somehow God must have intervened because we would have been right inside Benin Republic, as at the time this melodrama was ongoing.”

He added that his Nigerian-registered vehicle could have made him easily noticeable. He welcomed the news that the coup was foiled, recalling his long history of resisting military rule.

Momodu also drew parallels to his 1995 escape from Nigeria. He said, “When I escaped from Nigeria on July 25, 1995, I escaped through the Seme border into Cotonou from where I went to Lome… from there crossed the Aflaou border to Ghana and from Ghana into England where I would live for the next three years.”

He said the failed coup attempt brought back painful memories and raised concerns about democracy in Africa, adding, “I thought democracy had taken root in Africa, but it seems we are going backwards, which is very unfortunate. Let’s thank God it was quickly aborted.”

Benin’s government on Sunday said that it had thwarted an attempted coup, after a group of soldiers announced on state television that they had ousted President Patrice Talon.

Troops of the 6 Brigade, Nigerian Army/Sector 3 Operation Whirl Stroke, have recorded multiple operational breakthroughs across Taraba State.

Disclosing this in a statement on Monday, the spokesperson of 6 Brigade, Lieutenant Umar Muhammad, said troops deployed at Manya responded swiftly to a distress call on December 6 after armed robbers mounted a blockade along the Manya–Takum Road.

“On sighting the troops, the criminals fled and abandoned their weapons,” Muhammad said.

During a search of the area, troops recovered “one AK-47 rifle, a magazine, and three rounds of 7.62mm ammunition,” restoring safe movement along the route.

In another operation on December 7, troops at Kufai Amadu received information that four travellers from Bauchi State had been abducted inside Amadu Town while heading to Baissa in Kurmi Local Government Area.

READ ALSO: Troops Rescue Five Kidnap Victims In Kogi

According to the statement, preliminary findings showed the men, unfamiliar with the area, had stopped to ask for directions when two of them, identified as Musa Danji and Yusuf, were seized and taken towards New City.

“A search-and-rescue mission was immediately launched,” Muhammad said.

He disclosed that during coordinated bush clearance, troops rescued two of the victims, Yusuf Musa and Muhammed Umar, who had managed to escape.

“Search efforts are ongoing to locate the remaining hostages, and operations have been intensified to apprehend the perpetrators,” he added.

Troops also conducted an intelligence-led operation at Garin Sambo, Tau Village, Ardo Kola LGA, on 6 December, where they recovered “two pump-action guns, 13 cartridges, two motorcycles and four mobile phones.”

A pro-Northern group under the aegis of the Northern Elders’ Political Forum has condemned a call by former Zamfara lawmaker, Senator Kabiru Marafa, urging the United States to invade Nigeria over security concerns.

In a communiqué issued to journalists on Sunday after its annual meeting in Birnin Kebbi, the group described Marafa’s statement as “ridiculous, unpatriotic, and a call for anarchy.”

They asked the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest Marafa, faulting his remarks as reckless.

According to the National Coordinator of the Forum, Yusuf Abubakar, any Nigerian, regardless of status, who makes such a statement should undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine their mental health.

READ ALSO: ‘I Strongly Support,’ Senator Marafa Backs Trump’s Military Threat To Nigeria

“We view the statement as a demonstration of unpatriotism, which can be likened to mental instability,” Abubakar stated.

The group also urged political leaders and Northern governors to work together to tackle insecurity and poverty in the region rather than politicize the challenges.

They further called on security agencies to investigate certain politicians in Zamfara and Katsina states for allegedly using the media to spread fake news capable of heightening tension in the country.

Abubakar commended the Federal Government for its commitment to the fight against insecurity, particularly through Operation Fasan Yamma.

A former director of media operations at the Defence Headquarters, Major General John Enenche (retd.), has commended the Federal Government for securing the release of 100 of the remaining abducted Niger State schoolchildren.

He also lauded security agencies for the rescue efforts, which he said were not easy.

READ ALSO: FG Secures Release Of 100 Schoolchildren Abducted In Niger State

“My take is that the government and the security agencies have done a lot, and I believe that Nigerians will be happy for this.

“I can tell you that it is not easy, whichever way or means were used to get these children out,” Enenche said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

He described the release as a good signal.

Of course, it’s not good to be reactive, of course, it’s not good to be reactive, but what do we do? They are being reactive, reacting to issues of insecurity, kidnapping, and all that has taken place,” the retired senior military officer said.

The Federal Government reportedly secured the release of 100 schoolchildren abducted from St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary School, Papiri, in Agwara Local Government Area, Niger State, on Sunday.

Bandits stormed the school on motorbikes, abducting 315 people—303 students and 12 teachers, on 21 November 2025.

Security forces and community hunters were deployed to comb nearby forests for the abductees.

In the immediate aftermath, 50 pupils escaped within the first day and were reunited with their families.

However, 265 individuals—including 253 children and all 12 teachers—remained in captivity.