Category Nigeria News

The Nasarawa State Police Command announced that it had obstructed a significant illegal arms trafficking attempt and had made two arrests for the crime.

The State’s Commissioner of Police, SP Ramhan Nansel, said the incident, which took place on June 4, 2025, when the Command intercepted two suspected gunrunners passing through Lafia and carrying a large number of premium firearms and ammunition on their way to Ilorin, Kwara state, on Wednesday.

The Command said it quickly deployed its Anti-Kidnapping Unit in response to reliable intelligence, leading to the arrest of the suspects.

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Lawal Sani, a 40-year-old business bus driver from the Makwalla region, Funtua LGA, Katsina State, and Dahiru Abdullahi, a 75-year-old cattle trader from Angwan Dosa, Kaduna North LGA, Kaduna State, who are known to be based in Keffi Cattle Market, Nasarawa State, are the two suspects who were detained.

One General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), three AK-47s, one TAB 06 rifle, 1, 096 rounds of ammunition of the calibre 7,0, 20 rounds of ammunition, four empty magazines, and a Toyota Hiace bus, all of which have the registration number AAA 926 XL.

The suspects admitted to receiving $500,000 for the weapons’ transportation from Benue to Kwara State, a move that could have armed multiple criminal networks, according to the Command.

A full-scale investigation is currently being conducted to find the motivation behind this operation, according to the statement.

The operation sends a clear message to all state-based criminal organizations, according to the police commissioner.

“Nasarawa State is not a safe haven for crime.” We are unwaveringly committed to ending illegal arms trade and safeguarding innocent Nigerians’ lives.

The victims have been traumatized, according to Ibrahim Hussaini, the acting director general of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA).

Hussaini, who spoke on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, said the scale of the disaster had caused them to feel like they were being put to sleep. He also said that the residents were unable to move to the temporary shelter that was provided for them.

He explained that, out of fear of congested traffic and discomfort, the community’s tightly knit culture, where the majority of residents are related, had also led them to prefer to live with their neighbors rather than move into shelters and camps.

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“There has been confusion all over. People lost their homes, livelihoods, and lives. That qualifies as disaster, exactly. More than 3, 000 people were impacted. Many people have psychological issues. Their standard way of life has been distorted by this.

Because the community is like a single community, those who are less susceptible to harm were restraining from visiting the relief camps. They are all related to one another. But as we speak with them, he explained, they are starting to accept our position that they should be in camps.

He noted that various organizations, including the National Emergency Management Agency and UNICEF, were already granting aid in specially designated areas for victims.

The relief assistance has continued to come from various sources. All of the Niger State’s activities have been relocated to Mokwa.

“We praise God that the governor has facilitated stakeholder mobilization through his contacts. With their suggestions and relief interventions, he continued, “they are coming in a different way.”

Agboola Ajayi, a candidate for governor of Ondo State, is scheduled to appeal the petition to the Ondo State governorship election petition court in Akure on November 16, 2024.

Justice Benson Ogubu serves as the three-member tribunal’s chair.

The All Progressives Congress’ Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa won the state’s 18 local government areas, earning the victory in the general election.

Aiyedatiwa polled 366, 781 votes in total to defeat other candidates.

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However, the party and PDP candidate Agboola Ajayi complained to the tribunal and demanded that the election results be canceled.

The governor of Lagos State has read the riot act to all state residents who blatantly violate environmental laws and claim that they will be subject to the law’s full force from the start. &nbsp, &nbsp,

Tokunbo Wahab, the commissioner for environment and water resources for Lagos State, made this statement at an Ikeja press conference in Alausa.

According to the provisions of the Lagos Sanitation Environmental Law, anyone found dumping refuse illegally or littering the environment will face a stiff fine of up to N250, 000, or three months in prison, he added. Repeat offenders may also face even more severe punishment.

The Commissioner cautioned those who regularly dump solid waste in driveways, medians, or other road setbacks to stop, stressing that unfavorable deeds cause flash flooding, threaten public health, and deface the city.

Additionally, Mr. Wahab cautioned squatters on the state’s pedestrian bridges to leave because they regularly engage in open defecation and criminal activity there, which discourages pedestrians from using the bridges and puts their lives at risk, saying defaulters face being arrested.

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Over 3, 000 environmental offenders have been arrested and prosecuted by the government. We won’t let up, we will continue to increase our enforcement and sensibilization, he said, and we must all be aware that behavioral change must take place over time.

He emphasized that urination and open defecation are completely prohibited. More than 1,710 public toilets have been provided by the government and private organizations, he claims, and more are being made available in state eateries and gas stations for those who are compelled to use them.

Mr. Wahab reaffirmed that all forms of street trading are still prohibited and that no type of trading is permitted on pedestrian-friendly streets and medians. He urged traders to limit trading to specific market/stall space restrictions.

He urged all local governments, including those in homes, to only use approved and assigned PSP operators, not those who generate waste, as well as those who take on responsibility for its proper disposal. He claimed that timely payment of waste bills supports the system and ensures consistent service.

“If a PSP operator fails to collect your waste, report immediately to LAWMA through the following LAWMA helpline channels: 080000Lawma (08000052962), 07080601020”, he said.

He claimed that there is a new commitment to detain, prosecute, name, and shame all convicted offenders and that surveillance and enforcement personnel from the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, KAI, and LAWMA’s surveillance teams are fully operational across states.

Residents should refrain from patronizing them and always patronize registered PSPs because the ban on cart pushers has not been lifted because they dump waste indiscriminately across the&nbsp, state.

He also mentioned World Environment Day, which will be observed on June 5 with the theme “Ending Plastic Pollution,” and that it is an opportunity to honor and promote the environment.

According to him, “We as a state are determined to eradicate the problem of plastic waste in our state.” The July 1 Deadline for the beginning of the single-use plastics ban has no place in history.

“After a 18-month suspension for producers, distributors, and users. He added that we are stepping up our advocacy for the citizenry to be aware of the ban, which follows that of styrofoam food packs.

Abdulrasheed Bawa, a former head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has alleged a sizable number of dishonest practices were used to smuggle public funds under the guise of fuel subsidy payments.

In his book, “The Shadow of Loot &amp, Losses: Uncovering Nigeria’s Petroleum Subsidy Fraud,” Bawa made this known, according to a statement released on Monday.

The book, according to the statement, exposes one of Nigeria’s largest fuel subsidy scandal, exposing how it operates.

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Bawa reveals the complexity and audacity of the corrupt schemes used, drawing from his firsthand experience as a key investigator on the EFCC’s special team that investigated the 2012 subsidy fraud.

The former head of the anti-graft agency, according to the statement, documented how billions of naira were stolen as a result of claims for fuel that was never imported or shipped at inflated volumes despite receiving excessive subsidies.

The manipulation of bills of lading, where fraudsters allegedly abused international price fluctuations to claim higher subsidies, was another tactic adopted by the scandals’ perpetrators, as revealed in the book.

Round-tripping, double claims, diversion, and smuggling are other scharf practices that Bawa, who served as the EFCC chairman from 2021 to 2023, has exposed.

“Single shipments were frequently used to get multiple subsidy payments. Subsidized gasoline was frequently smuggled out of Nigeria for profit or routed to black markets.

According to Bawa, forged documents, stifling regulatory oversight, and systemic collusion between corrupt government officials and private sector actors helped advance these practices.

The Shadow of Loot and Losses is a call to action, a call for accountability, accountability, and reform in Nigeria’s public finance system, particularly in the oil sector, according to Bawa.

Removal of Subsidies

Nigerians protested nationwide in 2012 as a result of the planned removal of the fuel subsidy by the then-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

In September 2012, the Federal Government said it paid a total of ₦259, 339, 041, 657.85 as subsidy claims between 2011 and 2012.

President Bola Tinubu announced the end of the fuel subsidy at his inauguration in May 2023.

He stated that his decision to eliminate the fuel subsidy was in the youth’s and their future’s interests during the planning committee’s meeting at the State House in Abuja in March 2025.

You are the subject of every choice I make. The future is at stake. We removed the fuel subsidy because we hoped to safeguard your future.

The trial of Friday Audu, the alleged Nigerian mastermind behind the landmark December 2024 arrest of 792 people, including 193 foreigners and 599 Nigerians, for crimes involving romance scams and investments in cryptocurrency investment fraud, raged on Tuesday at the Lagos Special Offences Court in Ikeja.

Justice Rahman Oshodi, the trial judge, re-arraigned the defendant yesterday on an amended 8-count count of forgery, impersonation, possession of fraudulent documents, and computer-related fraud, and gave him bail in the amount of N50 million along with two other guarantees.

The defendant must also provide his passport to the court, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must do so within 48 hours to notify the Nigerian Immigration Service.

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A Bureau De Change operator, Baffale Yakubu, who had his signature forged on the accounts opening package of Genting International Ltd., the business that carried out the financial fraud that led to the arrest of the 792 people last year at their hideout in a seven-storey building known as “Eagle Flush Operation,” was immediately notified by the EFCC after the bail decision.

The suspects were apprehended in connection with a romance scam, alleged cryptocurrency investing, computer-related fraud, and money laundering.