Hope you’re enjoying the Easter break and this week’s selection does not spoil it for you.

Nigerian Media

Competition for DHL and the likes is coming from motor parks:

Nigerians are increasingly turning to motor parks as a cheaper and more accessible alternative for sending packages across the country. The shift, which has become more pronounced in recent months, is reshaping the way goods are moved between cities, with transport parks now handling more deliveries than passengers.

Unlike the conventional logistics firms, such as DHL, FedEx and GIG, motor parks offer a more flexible and affordable system that connects senders, drivers, storage handlers and motorcycle dispatch riders in a chain that ensures packages reach their destinations.

With fuel price high and conventional logistics firms charging more, the informal network of drivers, storage handlers and motorcycle dispatch riders has become the backbone of intercity logistics.

At Jabi Motor Park in Abuja, a fully loaded vehicle is no longer a sign that passengers are ready to go; it often means that it is packed with parcels.

From bags of cloths to live animals, drivers now move more goods than people as Nigerians increasingly turn to motor parks for faster and cheaper delivery.

Parcels wrapped in nylon or sacks sealed with tape and marked with phone numbers now compete for space with passengers. In some cases, they take over entire vehicles.

Weekend Trust findings show that many Nigerians are turning to commercial vehicle drivers at motor parks to send goods, citing lower cost and faster delivery despite the absence of formal tracking systems.

At Jabi Motor Park, a booking agent, Musa Ali, said the volume of parcels, locally referred to as waybills, has grown so much that they sometimes outweigh passenger traffic.

Daily Trust

A strange and terrible story:

A 15-year-old boy, identified simply as Gift, has died from suspected complications arising from a drug overdose reportedly taken in an attempt to gain weight.

The Delta State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, disclosed details of the incident in an interrogation video shared on X on Thursday.

According to him, the boy ingested multiple tablets of a drug identified as dexamethasone, which was allegedly given to him by his friend, Destiny Akpofure, who claimed it could make him gain weight.

He noted that Gift fell ill days after taking the medication and later died from the resulting complications.

Edafe wrote, “A very sad case of a 15-year-old who took sachets of dexamethasone tablets and swallowed several tablets at once.

“Asked why they were taking the drug, his friend, from whom he got it, said they were taking the drug to make them gain weight and eat more.

“The boy fell sick days later and was told by the suspect not to disclose that he had taken an overdose. He died four days later.”

Recounting events leading to the incident, Akpofure said he had obtained the drug from another friend at a party.

Speaking in Pidgin English, he explained that Gift had asked about the purpose of the drug, and he told him it could make a person sleep, eat more, and gain weight.

He added that the deceased requested to see the drug.

Akpofure said he had earlier taken some of the tablets himself before handing them over.

He said, “I collected the drug from a friend at a party. I asked him to introduce me to a medicine that would make me gain weight, and he gave me the drug, saying it would make me eat, sleep, and get fat. I took four tablets.

Punch

Baby price watch:

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has secured the conviction of a couple for baby trafficking in Cross River State.

The convicts, Esther Ini Udo, 32, and Eyo Stephen Udo, 34, were sentenced by the Federal High Court sitting in Calabar to a total of 30 years’ imprisonment.

PUNCH Metro reports that each of the convicts is to serve 15 years in prison.

According to a statement issued by NAPTIP on Thursday, the couple was arraigned on a four-count charge bordering on the buying and selling of babies for exploitation, contrary to the provisions of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.

The statement read, “Today, April 1, 2026, the Cross River State Command secured two convictions in FRN v. Esther Ini Udo & Eyo Stephen Udo, Charge No. FHC/CA/19C/2025.

“The convicts were charged with four counts bordering on the buying and selling of babies for exploitation, contrary to Sections 13(4)(a), (c) and (e), 21, and 27 of the TIPPEA Act, 2015.

“The first convict sold her newborn baby to one Oluchi Judith, who is at large, for the sum of N300,000 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira).

“Also, the two convicts bought a one-year-old baby boy for the sum of N150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) from Blessing and Uduak (both convicts) and resold the baby to the same Oluchi Judith for the sum of N400,000 (Four Hundred Thousand Naira).”

Punch

What does one even say to this?

In apparent effort to cushion the effects of high cost of tomatoes, the average Nigerian family has returned to the long abandoned habit of buying boiled tomato mix.

Economy&Lifestyle findings revealed that the tomato mix is a combination of tomatoes, habanero pepper and onion blended to paste and boiled.

The paste is allowed to cool before being portioned in cellophanes sachets and sold within the ranges of N200 to N500.

Mrs. Ramota Abdul, a vegetable seller, said she had to include it to her business, as there is hardly electricity in their area for residents to use their electric blenders.

“For months now we had no light.

“The increase in the price of fuel has created a rise in the cost of blending things in the market.

“My vegetable business is crawling with bills piling up. So I saw the opportunity to introduce blended tomato mix paste for sale to make profit to foot my bills.

“At first I thought people wouldn’t patronize me but they did.

“At times I sell up to a basket of tomato paste mix in a day.

Vanguard

The violence is real but the security is fake:

The Nigerian military has disclosed that its troops arrested two people posing as security operatives and prevented fresh attacks in parts of Plateau State.

A statement signed by Captain Chinonso Polycarp Oteh, media information officer of the Joint Task Force Operation Enduring Peace, described the development as a major step toward restoring peace in the state.

“In a significant breakthrough aimed at restoring the desired peace in Plateau State, troops of Joint Task Force, Operation Enduring Peace, achieved remarkable success in the late hours of Thursday during a targeted operation at Dutse Uku in Jos North Local Government Area,” the statement said.

“At approximately 11:45 pm, vigilant troops responding to a distress call on sporadic shooting at Dutse Uku general area intercepted and apprehended two individuals masquerading as security operatives. These impostors, dressed in tactical black uniforms, were caught actively participating in the arson of residential properties and the orchestration of violence within the community,” the statement added.

It said further, “Those arrested are currently in custody, while two persons who sustained gunshot wounds were moved by troops to a medical facility for attention, and they are in a stable condition. This pivotal arrest serves as a direct rebuttal to recent allegations suggesting military complicity in the Jos North unrest, effectively proving that the atrocities previously attributed to official personnel are being committed by criminal elements using deceptive attire to sow discord and defame the Armed Forces.”

Daily Post

This is the first case of Indomie fraud we have covered here at BTH:

In another development, the EFCC on the same day arraigned one Ibrahim Mohammed Tungushe before Justice Kumaliya on charges related to alleged fraud involving N1.25 million.

One of the counts read: “That you, Ibrahim Mohammed Tungushe on or about November, 2025 in Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court dishonestly misappropriated and converted to your own use the aggregate sum of N 1,250,000.00 ( One Million Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) only, being proceeds from the sale of 100 cartons of indomie instant noodles, belonging to one Bukar Babakura which you received under the guise that you will supply same to your customers and make payments for it within 24 (twenty four) hours and thereby committed an offence contrary section 296 and punishable under section 297 of the Borno state penal code Law and other matter connected therewith (No. 3 Vol. 48 Law 2923) respectively.”

Daily Post

A strange story of a couple going through a divorce who are fighting over one of their 3 children:

The Family Court sitting in Calabar, Cross River State, yesterday, extended the interim custody of an eight-year-old boy to the state’s Ministry of Social Welfare, pending the determination of a dispute between his parents.

Justice Blessing Egwu gave the order during proceedings in a suit marked HC/FC/13/2026 involving a Deputy Registrar in the state’s judiciary, Edmund Ujong (applicant), and Ms Wofai Bassey Etim (respondent).

The dispute centres on the custody of the child, with both parents who have two other children together accusing each other of abducting the boy.

At the resumed hearing, each of the parties urged the court to grant them custody of the child.

However, the judge expressed displeasure with counsel to both parties for filing fresh motions on the eve of the hearing, a development the court said delayed proceedings and stalled progress towards a resolution.

[…]

The court further ordered that both parents be granted access to the child at least twice weekly, subject to conditions set by the Welfare Department, and adjourned till April 28, 2026, for continuation of trial.

Guardian

Human beings are complicated beings with needs that can never be fully met:

“My husband used to cheat when we first started dating. I would suspect him and he would usually beg and beg and beg till I forgive him. Then we got married. My husband was cheating all through the first year, second year.

“In fact, every day we were fighting. Every day we were having an argument, from one argument to another. After we finished fighting, we would make up and everything would go smoothly.”

She admitted confronting other women involved, sometimes issuing threats.

“I remember calling the friend ladies, threatening them to leave my husband. I remember telling them to leave him or else I would post their pictures online. And they would insult me and I would insult them back.”

“All those things was what made our marriage sweet. It used to make me very, very happy. Our marriage was very, very interesting.”

The woman said her husband’s life changed after a spiritual encounter.

“But look, I don’t know what happened and how God encountered my husband or my husband encountered God. Now, my husband is a saint. To even cheat on me is a problem. Work will close, my husband will come back immediately.”

“I’ve asked him so many times if he’s going through midlife crisis. He will keep telling me that no, that he has found the purpose and he has known that there’s nothing out there again. And it is left for him to be faithful to his wife.”

She said the absence of conflict has made her marriage dull.

“I don’t know how to tell him to go back to the streets. I don’t know how to tell him to bring up all those things that used to make our marriage interesting. Now our marriage is just a one-way street. Very boring. Cook, sleep. Even to argue with me is a problem.”

“To me, I feel like every marriage needs a spark. Spark can be a cheating partner or an abusive partner or a violent husband. Something that just keeps the marriage going. Something that just makes it interesting. But my husband is boring.”

She also said she is unsure whether she should take drastic steps herself.

“Me now, I don’t know if I should start cheating on my husband to bring back the spark. But I know that many men don’t forgive cheating. And I don’t want to be caught cheating on him. Because I don’t want to go back to my parents’ house.”

Tribune

Non-Nigerian Media

Who is Uar Bernard?

Uar Bernard (pronounced “ooh-are”) measured in earlier this week at the NFL’s HBCU showcase at 6-4 1/2, 306 pounds with 11-inch hands and almost 36-inch arms. Other people who have spent their lifetimes in football say Bernard looks like a Marvel creation. Bernard’s body fat: 6 percent. He vertical-jumped 39 inches and broad-jumped 10-10, which was 14 inches more than any other defensive tackle did at this year’s combine. His 40-yard dash: 4.63.

“Hands down, he is the most explosive athlete I’ve ever seen in my life,” Luallen told The Athletic. “He broad jumped 10-10, and it was effortless. At 306 pounds. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Longtime quarterback coach George Whitfield was helping lead the offensive positional drills at the HBCU showcase at the Washington Commanders facility. After his work was done, the defensive players took the field. Whitfield couldn’t take his eyes off Bernard. He’d never seen anyone like that, either.

“It’s like watching (Victor Wembanyama),” Whitfield said. “The numbers don’t even do him justice. He’s 6-5, 310, and he’s got 6 percent body fat on him. NBA players don’t have 6 percent body fat on them.”

[…]

Bernard has come a long way in three years. He grew up in a small village in Nigeria, where most people are farmers, he said. His father was a policeman but passed away when Bernard was 16.

He wanted to do something different from most people in his area. “I wanted to go into real estate,” he said. But after getting noticed while playing basketball and told by a coach he should try American football, Bernard attended several camps in Africa before getting selected for the NFL’s IPP program. In the past decade, the program has put numerous players on NFL rosters. Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata is the most notable IPP alum.

The Athletic

Not been a good couple of weeks for NIgerian dieticians:

A dietician has been struck off the UK register after using ChatGPT to give ‘textbook’ answers during a remote NHS job interview while she was in Nigeria.

Aiwanehi Aigbokhaevbo was caught using AI to provide real-time answers to impress interviewers during a video call for a job at an NHS hospital.

The registered dietician kept asking the interview panel to repeat the question, before ‘slowly and deliberately’ repeating the question back herself, in an effort to buy time until she had ‘model’ answers, a tribunal heard.

Nigeria-based Miss Aigbokhaevbo raised suspicions when she was spotted reading off a screen and managing to speak ‘very eloquently’ despite her considerable hesitation before answering.

One of the panel members subsequently put the interview questions into ChatGPT and noted significant similarities to the answers she had provided.

It was heard that the use of AI had been a particular problem with candidates from Nigeria applying for jobs.

Three different members of the panel suggested she was cheating both while answering questions in the interview and while completing a subsequent case study question.

Miss Aigbokhaevbo has now been struck off following a hearing at the Heath and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS).

The tribunal heard that she undertook the job interview for an oncology dietician role at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in March 2024.

Daily Mail

The work of Tolù Adẹ̀kọ́:

In a world filled with cookie-cutter interiors, there is an element of comfort and joy in embracing spaces that skew from the norm, or so thinks Nigerian-born, London-based British interior designer Tolù Adẹ̀kọ́.

As the founding designer of multidisciplinary practice Adẹ̀kọ́ & Co., he is equally acquainted with imagining exclusive hospitality and gastronomy destinations that stand out for their moody atmosphere and artisanal flair, as he is used to dreaming up homes that reflect the breadth of experiences, passions, and stories that make up his clients’ universe.

I sat down with Tolù to understand why, in his own words, personality, not trends, is the hottest new thing in decor, and why today, the best designs — the ones that stick with us, standing the test of time — are those that not only look beautiful but capture the nature of those who inhabit them.

Livingetc

Electric vehicle assembly from kit in Lagos:

A growing number of Nigerian companies are turning to kit-based assembly to bring electric vehicles to market in Africa. Lagos-based Saglev Micromobility Nigeria recently partnered with Dongfeng Motor Corp., in Wuhan, China, to assemble 18-seat electric passenger vans from imported kits.

Kit-based assembly allows Nigerian firms to reduce costs, create jobs, and develop local technical expertise—key steps toward expanding EV access. Fully assembled and imported EVs face high tariffs that put them out of reach for many African consumers, whereas kit-based approaches make electric mobility more affordable today. Saglev’s initiative reflects a broader trend: CIG Motors, NEV Electric, and regional players in Côte D’Ivoire, Ghana, and Kenya are also leveraging imported kits to build local EV ecosystems, signaling that parts of West Africa are intent on catching up with global electrification efforts.

CIG Motors operates a kit-assembly plant in Lagos producing vehicles from Chinese automakers GAC Motor and Wuling Motors. These vehicles include the Wuling Bingo, a compact five-door electric hatchback, and the Hongguang Mini EV Macaron, a microcar with roughly 200 kilometers of range aimed at ride-share operators looking for ultralow-cost urban transport. NEV Electric focuses on electric buses and three-wheelers for urban transit and last-mile delivery.

Saglev’s CEO, Olu Faleye, emphasizes that Nigeria’s EV transition addresses both practical economic needs in addition to environmental goals. Beyond passenger transport, electric vehicles could help reduce one of Nigeria’s persistent agricultural challenges: postharvest spoilage. Nigeria loses an estimated 30 million to 40 million tonnes of food annually because of weak logistics and limited refrigeration infrastructure, according to the Organization for Technology Advancement of Cold Chain in West Africa.

IEEE Spectrum

Elizabeth Adeagbo has been found guilty of assault:

A toddler was grabbed like a ‘bag of rubbish’ by an ‘experienced’ nursery worker after the ‘happy-go-lucky’ child grabbed her trouser leg wanting her attention, a court heard.

Nursery worker Elizabeth Adeagbo, 29, was found guilty of assault by beating after a trial before magistrates.

The mother of the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the incident meant she had ‘lost trust’ in leaving her child with others.

She said: ‘Leaving your children at nursery for the first time is a significant and emotional step. No family should have to fear that their child will come to harm. It’s shaken our confidence.

‘They’re looking after the youngest, most vulnerable children, what happened has made me so wary.

‘It’s vital that standards of care for children are upheld so that those entrusted with their care cannot be given free rein do what they see fit with our children.’

Sefton Magistrates’ Court heard the incident happened at a nursery on the Wirral, which also cannot be named.

The incident happened at around 9.30am on April 16, last year, when the ‘happy-go-lucky’ child grabbed her trouser leg, wanting her attention.

[…]

The teaching assistant, who moved to the UK from Nigeria, where she was a teacher, in 2023, then lifts the child by his left upper arm and carries him across the room. At the end of the CCTV clip she grabs him by both arms and lifts him up.

Adeagbo, who had a 17-month-old son at the time of the incident, said her intentions were to remove the ‘wet apron’ with her other arm, while carrying him.

Daily Mail

Nigerian gig workers training robots in Nigeria:

When Zeus, a medical student living in a hilltop city in central Nigeria, returns to his studio apartment from a long day at the hospital, he turns on his ring light, straps his iPhone to his forehead, and starts recording himself. He raises his hands in front of him like a sleepwalker and puts a sheet on his bed. He moves slowly and carefully to make sure his hands stay within the camera frame.

Zeus is a data recorder for Micro1, a US company based in Palo Alto, California that collects real-world data to sell to robotics companies. As companies like Tesla, Figure AI, and Agility Robotics race to build humanoids—robots designed to resemble and move like humans in factories and homes—videos recorded by gig workers like Zeus are becoming the hottest new way to train them.

Micro1 has hired thousands of contract workers in more than 50 countries, including India, Nigeria, and Argentina, where swathes of tech-savvy young people are looking for jobs. They’re mounting iPhones on their heads and recording themselves folding laundry, washing dishes, and cooking. The job pays well by local standards and is boosting local economies, but it raises thorny questions around privacy and informed consent. And the work can be challenging at times—and weird.

Zeus found the job in November, when people started talking about it everywhere on LinkedIn and YouTube. “This would be a real nice opportunity to set a mark and give data that will be used to train robots in the future,” he thought.

Zeus is paid $15 an hour, which is good income in Nigeria’s strained economy with high unemployment rates. But as a bright-eyed student dreaming of becoming a doctor, he finds ironing his clothes for hours every day boring.

“I really [do] not like it so much,” he says. “I’m the kind of person that requires … a technical job that requires me to think.”

Zeus, and all the workers interviewed by MIT Technology Review, asked to be referred to only by pseudonyms because they were not authorized to talk about their work.

MIT Technology Review

A tragedy in London:

A 14-year-old boy shot dead in south-east London has been named as Eghosa Ogbebor.

Officers received reports of a shooting on Lord Warwick Street, Woolwich, at about 15:40 BST on Thursday. The boy was treated by paramedics but died at the scene. His family has been informed, the Met said.

Two boys, aged 14 and 16, and an 18-year-old man have been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Detectives leading the inquiry have urged anyone with information about the incident to come forward as well as appealing for anyone who may have relevant CCTV or dashcam footage.

Customers sitting outside a nearby pub, The Greyhound, are said to have run inside in panic as they heard gunshots.

Pub worker Sofia Pereira said she heard someone fall on one of the bins on the pub’s patio at the time of the shooting.

Pereira said she then saw a teenager run through the patio towards Woolwich Church Street.

She said: “I just heard like a big ‘bang’, like a big, strong ‘boom’, which was obviously one of the kids, I think, jumping on the wall, through the bin, and then obviously the bin fell and broke, then he just ran off.”

She said about 10 customers who were on the patio ran inside “panicking”, adding the atmosphere in the pub was “very overwhelming”.

“Everyone got scared because they heard shooting and they could see one of the guys had a machete, or something like that.

“So everyone just ran inside, said ‘lock, lock all the doors and everything’, because obviously we didn’t know what was going on.”

BBC

Enjoy the usual selection below

Nigerian Media

A story about unoccupied government houses in Bauchi:

Findings by Weekend Trust revealed that at least four sets of about 6,000 housing units in Bauchi State are either completed but unoccupied or abandoned halfway through construction. Several of them have now been overgrown with weeds and taken over by reptiles.

The housing schemes include the 1,000 Unity Estate located along Jos Road, the 1,000 Isa Yuguda housing units at Hakan-Yafi village, the Federal Government 1,000 housing units along Ningi-Kano Road and the 2,500 Governor Bala Mohammed housing units across the six Bauchi emirates: Katagum, Jama’are, Dass, Bauchi, Misau and Ningi.

Weekend Trust gathered that the construction work for the Unity Estate started sometime in 2007, but the project was abandoned halfway. While a significant portion of the first phase was 100 percent completed over 15 years ago, other units were abandoned at various levels of completion.

Further investigation also indicated that some residents of Bauchi, suspected to have applied for the houses but got tired of waiting for formal allocation, sometimes in 2014, moved into some completed portions of the houses. The uncompleted structures in the estate have been left at the mercy of vandals, reptiles and criminals using them as hideouts.

It was also observed that while several walls of the abandoned structures have collapsed, others are replete with cracks.

The second 1,000 housing units project, located about 3 kilometers away from the Unity Estate, was initiated and completed by the former Governor Isa Yuguda-led administration. Although it was fully completed, not a single house has been officially allocated, years after completion. The structures have been taken over by hoodlums who converted them to criminal sanctuaries.

Multiple sources at the Bauchi State Ministry of Housing, who craved anonymity, confided in this paper that the houses have not been allocated to occupants due to the change of governments.

One of the sources said former Governor Yuguda completed the estate towards the end of his second tenure in May 2015, but had left the office by the time they were ready for allocation.

“His successor, the present administration, hasn’t paid much attention to the project. I later learnt that the terms for occupying the houses were also reviewed and the applicants found it difficult to own them. I don’t know if the present administration will review the terms again to simplify the processes to enable the applicants to own the houses,” the source said.

Daily Trust

The most annoying thing about mining stories in Nigerian media is they never tell you what they were mining. That is the most important part of the story!

Troops of 176 Guards Battalion under Operation MESA have arrested 98 suspected illegal miners during a raid on an illegal mining site in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

This was made known in a post on X by Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency and security expert in the Lake Chad region.

Makama stated that the operation was conducted at about 5:55 p.m. on March 23, following intelligence on illegal mining activities in the area, noting the troops stormed the site and apprehended the suspects without resistance.

The source further revealed that items recovered during the operation include one vehicle, eight motorcycles, five pumping machines, 27 shovels, seven sledgehammers, 22 diggers, three head pans, five mining mats, and a sack of charcoal.

“The arrested suspects have been handed over to the Guards Brigade Provost Group for further investigation and necessary action,” he said.

Daily Post

Even by Nigerian standards this whole attempt at rehabilitating a convicted paedo has been shocking:

Controversial Nollywood actor Yomi Fabiyi has once again ignited public outcry after doubling down on his defence of convicted actor Olanrewaju Omiyinka, popularly known as Baba Ijesha, claiming the 2021 incident was a matter of “play” rather than a criminal attempt at sexual violence.

During a recent live session that has since gone viral, Fabiyi sought to downplay the gravity of the assault that led to Baba Ijesha’s imprisonment. Fabiyi claimed in the Yoruba language that “there was no intention to rape. Baba Ijesha just wanted to play with the girl and kiss her quickly because he knew the homeowner would be back soon.” He further added, “He just wanted to kiss the girl and play with her breasts.”

The case, which first shook the Nigerian entertainment industry in 2021, involved the sexual assault of the 14-year-old foster daughter of comedienne Damilola Adekoya, professionally known as Princess. The incident was captured on CCTV, providing key evidence that led to a high-profile trial.

In July 2022, a Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja convicted Baba Ijesha of sexual assault and indecent treatment of a child. He was sentenced to five years and three years’ imprisonment, respectively, to run concurrently.

Tribune

And another story that just leaves you speechless:

Chaos erupted in Southern Ijaw on Wednesday after a 47-year-old man, identified simply as Emi, collapsed and died while undergoing a traditional punishment for the alleged rape of a 10-year-old girl in Ekeowe.

According to community sources, the victim was returning from a farm with her aunt when Emi allegedly ambushed and assaulted her in a nearby bush. Under a longstanding local custom, the punishment for such an act involves receiving 10 strokes of the cane from each of the community’s 12 families, totaling 120 lashes.

Tensions mounted as some residents offered alternatives to the brutal flogging, with one proposing N50, 000 and another N15, 000 to spare the suspect. However, the wider community rejected the offers, insisting that the full traditional penalty be enforced as a deterrent.

During the marathon flogging session, Emi collapsed and lost consciousness after receiving just 40 strokes—a third of the prescribed punishment. He was later confirmed dead upon arrival at the community hospital.

The death sparked immediate pandemonium, with angry youths flooding the streets.

Armed soldiers from the Ogboinbiri base were deployed to restore order, following fears that the situation could escalate further.

Vanguard

This shouldn’t be funny but I couldn’t help myself especially at the highlighted section:

Panic gripped residents on Tuesday after a truck loaded with sand rammed into the main gate of the Gombe State Government House, damaging the structure.

The incident, which occurred around 12:55 p.m., involved a gate reportedly constructed as part of ongoing renovation projects at the Government House under Governor Muhammadu Yahaya. The gate has yet to be officially inaugurated.

Eyewitnesses said the truck lost control before crashing into the multi-million-naira facility.

“I was standing across the road when I saw the truck approaching at speed. Suddenly, the driver seemed to lose control, and the vehicle veered off and hit the gate,” said a trader, Musa Abdullahi.

Another witness, a commercial motorcyclist, Ibrahim Sadiq, said the incident could have been more tragic if pedestrians had been nearby. “It happened very fast. People started running when they saw the truck coming. Thankfully, no one was injured,” he said.

A security aide in the area, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the impact caused significant damage to the newly installed gate. “The gate is part of the ongoing renovation. The force of the crash bent parts of the structure,” he added.

Punch

Non-Nigerian Media

Interesting or weird story:

A serial criminal jailed for drug dealing has won a reprieve against deportation because immigration courts cannot decide whether he is a British citizen.

Isaac Bramwell was set for deportation to Nigeria after being sentenced for possessing class A drugs, an asylum hearing was told.

The 28-year-old had previously lodged an appeal but committed another offence while waiting for the decision and was jailed for more than five years – a sentence he is currently serving.

However, his deportation case will now be reconsidered because it is unclear whether he is a British citizen.

Although Bramwell was born in Britain, his mother is Nigerian and was adopted by parents in Nigeria who had UK settled status.

The dispute over Bramwell’s citizenship centres on whether his mother acquired UK settled status when she was adopted.

Bramwell was born in south London in 1997 and has never left the UK, but he qualifies as a foreign criminal and was thought to be eligible for deportation because of his mother’s Nigerian heritage.

The Home Office has insisted that, despite living here from birth, Bramwell is not a British citizen because his Nigerian mother did not have settled status in the UK when he was born.

His mother was adopted in Nigeria in 1987 by parents who did have UK settled status, but the Home Office contends that this did not mean she had settled status when the family returned to the UK.

Telegraph

And a similar sort of story:

A Nigerian with a 30-year criminal history can be deported after the overturning of an earlier ruling that it would be “unduly harsh” to separate him from his children.

Sydney Igbanoi racked up 22 convictions over three decades for drug offences, assault, harassment and cruelty to animals.

However, the 48-year-old was allowed to stay in the UK because an immigration judge had ruled that it would be unfair on his children if he were deported.

Home Office officials appealed against that ruling after Igbanoi was recently handed a 42-month jail sentence for possession with intent to supply cocaine and MDMA, supplying cocaine and MDMA and the supply of a class B drug.

The appeal tribunal was told that before his latest sentence, Igbanoi had a long history of offending, comprising 22 convictions for 33 offences primarily in relation to using and dealing drugs, that stretched back to 1997.

Igbanoi came to the UK as a 14-year-old in 1991, having travelled on a settlement visa to join his father, and has held indefinite leave to remain status since.

The tribunal was told that Igbanoi had four British children aged from ten to 26. A 17-year-old daughter lives in Finland with her mother, but she was said to have a “strong relationship” with Igbanoi.

A 16-year-old daughter was said to have been estranged from her father, while a ten-year-old son was said to be living in Italy, although the tribunal was told that the boy had been in touch with Igbanoi.

A letter from Igbanoi’s probation officer said that his expulsion from the UK “would harm his relationship with his children, who depend on his presence and support … with continued support and the stability provided by remaining in this country [he] will continue to make positive contributions to society and uphold the law”.

Igbanoi said he “had been “socially and culturally integrated” into the country. A first-tier tribunal agreed, but a deputy judge at the appeal level has overturned that ruling. Paving the way for Igbanoi to be deported, Judge Mark Symes, said he would not face significant obstacles to integration in Nigeria because he still had family there, including a mother and siblings.

The Times

The state visit is still generating content:

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s daughter-in-law had royal watchers doing a double take at the Nigerian state banquet by rocking a gown that looked much like one in Kate Middleton‘s closet.

On March 19, Layal Jade Tinubu shared a glamorous video on Instagram that showed off her style from the state banquet at Windsor Castle the day prior.

Tinubu, who is married to the president’s son, Seyi Tinubu, attended the diplomatic dinner at Windsor Castle on March 18.

President Tinubu’s daughter-in-law sported a dark green velvet gown for the special occasion, and the frock’s fitted style with a folded neckline was reminiscent of the deep green Talbot Runhof gown that Princess Kate wore in November 2025.

People

Why do people in Ejigbo speak French?

Ejigbo is located north of Nigeria’s economic capital, Lagos and more than 350 kilometres from its French-speaking neighbour, Benin.

In the streets here, where the official language is English, one can hear what is called “petit français”: a mix of words in Yoruba and Baoulé, interspersed with French.

Although surrounded by French-speaking countries such as Benin, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, Nigeria has very few French speakers, even though teaching the language is in theory compulsory up to secondary school, although there is a severe shortage of teachers.

Since the early 20th century, the inhabitants of Ejigbo have been migrating to French-speaking countries such as Benin and Togo, but above all to Côte d’Ivoire.

Many residents hold dual nationality and divide their time between the two countries. Three times a week, buses cover the 1,200 kilometres between Ejigbo and Abidjan.

It is common for shopkeepers and restaurant owners to accept CFA francs to pay for a bowl of attiéké – fermented cassava semolina – a typical Ivorian dish frequently found in Ejigbo.

Akanbi Mudasiru Ilupeju is a professor of French and a sociolinguist at the faculty of arts at the University of Lagos, and hails from Ejigbo.

“In Ejigbo, people don’t just speak one type of French. It is, let’s say, a slangy French or a more relaxed French. There is standard French, the kind that everyone can understand well, which is reserved for the elite – those who have been to school, students, or nationals from French-speaking countries living in Ejigbo.”

But, he added: “There is also street French: a mix of the national languages of the country the speaker has lived in. Especially in Abidjan, where local languages such as Baoulé are mixed in.”

RFI

Excerpt from a new (critical) book about Meghan and Harry:

In 2024, Harry and Meghan travelled to Nigeria to promote the Invictus Games, a trip that caused criticism after it was styled as a quasi-royal tour despite the fact the Sussexes were no longer working royals.

Bower claimed that the pair believed Nigeria was “the perfect battleground on which to weaponise a portrayal of the royal family as racist”.

The director of Invictus was reported to have told Harry that the majority of Nigerians were convinced Meghan was a victim of the royal family’s racism, according to the book.

The Times

Who is Neff Giwa?

Neff Giwa has never played in a football game and has only watched highlights of the sport, but over the past two weeks, the 6-foot-7, 295-pound rugby player from Ireland has become one of the hottest commodities in college recruiting.

Miami was the first to offer Giwa, who projects as an offensive lineman, a scholarship after coach Mario Cristobal saw a video posted on X just last week. Several other Power 4 conference schools quickly followed with offers.

In that post, Brandon Collier, who runs Germany-based Premier Prospects International (PPI), predicted Giwa “will be a 1st round pick one day! Remember this tweet!!!”

Over the past decade, Collier, a former defensive tackle at UMass, has helped place approximately 100 international athletes at major college football programs. Many have been former track and field athletes, soccer players, basketball players and some were even alpine skiers and tennis players. PPI produced eight players who started in the SEC last season. Valdin Sone, a 6-3, 315-pound elite shot putter-turned-defensive tackle born in Sweden, became the organization’s first five-star recruit and signed with Georgia in December.

In early January, Collier received a tip from a former rugby player in England. “I got a kid you’re gonna love.”

[…]

Neff Giwa was born in Ireland. His father, a physiotherapist, and his mother, a nurse, emigrated from Nigeria. He grew up in Cashel, about two hours from Dublin, and started playing soccer when he was 4. He played for his local team, Cashel FC, in the U12 and U13 divisions, but as he started getting a lot bigger, his friends introduced him to rugby.

The Athletic

More Benin Bronzes on their way, this time from Zurich:

Zurich’s Museum Rietberg has transferred ownership of eleven objects from the Kingdom of Benin held by Museum Rietberg to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Museum Rietberg won’t be sending them all back to Nigeria; two will be repatriated, while nine will remain on loan in the musuem’s collections. The items are just a few of the thousands linked to a British raid on Benin City in 1897, and the looted treasures made their way into museum collections around the world.

Among the objects are those pictured above: a bracelet with horseman and animal figures (called a Ikoo akon’eni), a mask (Uhunmwu-Ẹkuẹ), and a carved ivory tusk from an ancestral shrine (Akon’eni Elao). All originate from the Kingdom of Benin.

Per a City of Zurich press release, the city is “acting in response to a restitution claim filed by Nigeria as the body responsible for colonial-era collections. The National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) filed an official restitution claim in July 2024 on behalf of the Nigerian government and the Kingdom of Benin for the eleven Benin objects held by Museum Rietberg.”

“This decision made by the City of Zurich will indeed go a long way in healing certain aspects of our fragmented colonial past and I have no doubt that the Benin Royal Palace, the Benin people, and all Nigerians will truly appreciate the symbolism of this significant return,” NCMM Director General Olugbile Holloway said.

Town and Country Magazine

Feature on a Nigerian ballet school:

Ayomi Tsalu’s love for dance all began with the 2001 film Save the Last Dance. The movie was Tsalu’s first introduction to classical ballet at age 12, and he was hooked—dreaming of one day studying dance but having no opportunities in his hometown in Nigeria.

Tsalu first stepped into a studio in 2010, when he attended university and discovered the local studio where he would begin his journey as a teacher. The studio’s instructors had little to no formal ballet training, which Tsalu says is common for teachers in Nigeria, and this ignited in him a passion for offering quality ballet instruction to Nigerian students.

Tsalu began Above Ballet Company in 2015, teaching classes around the country and creating cohorts of dancers for performance opportunities, while simultaneously seeking out more extensive training for himself. In 2019, as the founding director and CEO of Nigeria’s Above Ballet Company, Tsalu attained Level 3 certification in the Cuban Methodology of Ballet with Alicia Alonso’s Dance Foundation. In 2022, he began training with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and attained his diploma in dance and ballet education the following year. In June 2024, Tsalu opened the Above Ballet Company Academy in Lagos, where he trains students through nine grade levels and presents them for ISTD graded examinations. In 2025, he completed American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum, which qualified him to teach pre-primary to grade 3.

The name “Above Ballet Company” comes from Tsalu’s desire to “be above the standard” and raise the bar of the ballet training that currently exists in Nigeria. “I know that there are a lot of ballet students who are in search of quality ballet training,” he says. “My vision is to bring [professional] ballet training to Nigerian students, trained entirely in the country by a Nigerian.”

Pointe

We come back to this story first picked up in June last year in BTH 100:

A 26-year-old man who was in the United States on a Green Card has been sentenced for laundering fraud proceeds through an unlicensed money transmitting business, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.

Ayobami Omoniyi pleaded guilty Aug. 19, 2024.

U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen has now ordered Omoniyi to serve 32 months in federal prison and pay $202,273.80 in restitution. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to be removed from the country following his imprisonment. At the hearing, the court heard additional information that Omoniyi had been committing crimes since arriving in the United States and that he had been a recruiter for the scheme.

In 2021, Omoniyi and others operated an unlicensed money transmitting business that received and transferred funds from business email compromise victims, including a fishing company in Australia. Victims received spoofed emails that appeared to come from legitimate businesses and were tricked into sending payments to accounts conspirators controlled.

As part of his plea, Omoniyi admitted he moved money through multiple bank accounts. The funds originated from fraudsters involved in a business email compromise wire fraud scheme.

Omoniyi also acknowledged receiving victims’ funds and, for a fee, transmitting the fraud proceeds to others.

United States Attorney’s Office

News from Ireland:

Two directors of a criminal gang have been jailed for what was described in court as “a worldwide, highly sophisticated money laundering scheme on a breathtaking scale”.

Elike Francis Ogbuefi, aged 42, from Clonard Road in Crumlin, Dublin was jailed for nine years while his co-accused 32-year-old Steven Silvester from The Paddocks, Morristown in Newbridge, Co Kildare was jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

The men were arrested and charged following a long running investigation by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau.

Both men had denied the charges but were convicted by a jury following a trial last month.

Over €6 million was stolen and laundered in a variety of scams including romance frauds and smishing schemes and moved through a variety of accounts.

The two men were in charge of supplying and monitoring accounts where the stolen money was deposited. They received repeated requests worldwide for accounts to be used for all types of fraud.

The requests came largely from Nigerian phone numbers and details on Ogbuefi’s phone, which gardaí managed to access, included the type of jobs required, the amounts going through the accounts and specifications as to the type of accounts required.

Ogbuefi gave instructions that the type of account sought had to be in an Irish name, not an African name, to avoid suspicion.

He was the contact for those outside the country and a nine minute instruction video on how to engage in this activity was also found on his phone.

RTE

Enjoy the week’s selection below.

Nigerian Media

Report into how nature reserves and tourism spots have turned into criminal hideouts:

The forest thrived as a game reserve during the colonial period and was used for safaris in the 1970s, with a large population of leopards, lions, elephants and hyenas for tourism. In 1991, the Borno State government incorporated the reserve into the national park of the Chad Basin. But as years rolled by, poor management upended the operations of the reserve until Boko Haram insurgents who fled from Maiduguri town hijacked it in 2013.

Since then, terrorists have carried out a series of attacks from the forest and resisted military raids targeted at flushing them out of the zone. They frequently ambushed Nigerian military convoys and patrols operating around Sambisa, using roadside bombs, snipers, and hit‑and‑run attacks. In April 2021, the terrorists reportedly shut down a military jet, though the Nigerian Air Force insisted the Alpha Jet crashed. Its wreckage was eventually recovered from the forest one year later.

At the peak of a supremacy battle between Boko Haram and ISWAP members in May 2021, a fight broke out as the latter sought to take control of the forest in a fierce encounter.

In an article titled ‘Once Upon a Game Reserve: Sambisa and the Tragedy of a Forested Landscape,’ a political scientist at the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Prof Azeez Olaniyan, traced the descent of the reserve to a terrorists’ fortress to corruption and poor leadership of the military era.

“As was the case with several sectors of Nigerian life, corruption reared its head in park management to the extent that funds budgeted for the game reserve were mismanaged. The number of forest guards and range managers was not only inadequate, but they were also poorly trained and funded. The neglect resulted in an invasion of the reserve by hunters and poachers without many restraints. This was to have effects on the wildlife in the space.

Daily Trust

Another fake kidnapping:

The Anambra State Police Command has arrested two suspects after uncovering a case of conspiracy and staged kidnapping done in collaboration between the victim’s boyfriend, after extorting the victim’s parents of ₦240,000.

In a press statement released on Saturday, the spokesman for the command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the arrest was made after a significant breakthrough in several reported cases under investigation in the command within the last two weeks.

Ikenga said the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad, Awkuzu, carried out the arrest on March 14 and also recovered several items, including cash, from the suspects.

The statement read, “The Anambra State Police Command has recorded significant breakthroughs in several reported cases under investigation within the last two weeks.

“Among the feats recorded, the notable ones include the following: The operatives of the Rapid Response Squad Awkuzu on March 14, 2026, uncovered a case of conspiracy and staged kidnapping with the arrest of two suspects, namely: Chinedu Chineye Nwobi ‘M’, aged 25 years and Okwudili Nweke ‘M’, aged 25 years, respectively.

“The victim, Miss Mmesoma Ifediora, aged 18 years, was rescued unharmed in a forest popularly known as ‘Malaysia Forest’ located at Iruayika, Awkuzu.

“Upon interrogation, the rescued victim confessed that the kidnapping was staged in collaboration with her boyfriend, Obiora Okoye, with the intent to extort the sum of ₦3 million from her parents.

Punch

Story that’s gone under the radar:

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has secured the conviction of 10 Filipino sailors and their merchant vessel, MV Nord Bosporus, over the importation of 20 kilograms of cocaine into Nigeria through the Apapa seaport in Lagos.

The agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed on Wednesday that the Federal High Court in Lagos also imposed fines and restitution totaling $6 million, alongside an additional N1.1 million penalty on the convicts.

The vessel and its crew were arrested on November 16, 2025, following the interception of the cocaine consignment concealed onboard the ship, which originated from Santos, Brazil.

Subsequently, the NDLEA filed a four-count charge against them in suit number FHC/L/1232C/25 before the Federal High Court 2, Lagos, led by the agency’s Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Theresa Asuquo.

The defendants, however, pleaded guilty and entered into a plea bargain agreement.

Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Ayokunle Faji found the vessel guilty under Section 25 of the NDLEA Act and ordered it to pay a N100,000 penalty and $5.35 million in restitution to the Federal Government.

Three principal officers of the vessel—the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th defendants—were each fined N100,000 and ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution, while the remaining seven crew members were fined N100,000 each and $50,000 in restitution apiece.

In total, the vessel and its crew are to pay $6 million and N1.1 million as fines and restitution.

Vanguard

Why would anyone do this to a cocoa research institute:

The Member representing Oluyole Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Tolu Akande-Sadipe, has expressed deep concern over a reported security breach at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria headquarters in Oluyole, Ibadan.

According to verified reports, the incident occurred on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, when unidentified armed individuals attacked the nursery section of the facility, resulting in injuries and the abduction of several persons.

Hon. Akande-Sadipe strongly condemned the act, describing it as a senseless attack on innocent individuals.

She disclosed that security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force and other relevant authorities, have been swiftly mobilised to the area to restore order, secure the facility, and ensure the safe rescue of those abducted.

Tribune

What a horror story:

Tragedy struck Uli community in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State on Sunday night as a man identified simply as Gozie allegedly killed his lover’s only son for opposing their relationship.

The victim, said to be in his 20s, was reportedly attacked in his room following repeated disagreements with his mother’s lover over his frequent visits to their home.

Residents told PUNCH Metro on Thursday that tensions between the deceased and the suspect had persisted for some time, often resulting in heated altercations.

According to an eyewitness, who identified himself simply as Somto, neighbours became suspicious after not seeing the occupants of the compound for days.

“The incident happened on Sunday night at a compound near the Uli campus of Anambra State University. Neighbours said they heard unusual noises that night, but it was when no one was seen for about two days that they decided to check,” he said.

He explained that residents searched the rooms in the compound and discovered the victim’s lifeless body in a pool of blood.

“When they entered the young man’s room, they found his corpse with deep machete cuts on the head and other parts of the body. This drew a crowd, and youths in the area immediately launched a search for the suspect and the boy’s mother, but they had fled,” Somto added.

The incident was subsequently reported to the police, while the remains of the deceased were deposited in a morgue.

Punch

Non-Nigerian Media

Yours truly was in the FT this week with an opinion piece on the Dangote Refinery and what it means for Nigerians:

Nigeria has had a troubled relationship with crude oil since the first commercial well flowed at Oloibiri in 1956. Time and again, the promise of easy money has resolved into a pattern of windfalls that enrich the state without strengthening it.

The “cement armada” — the mid-1970s oil-boom-generated fiasco when Nigeria ordered far more cement for public works than it could handle, leaving hundreds of ships stranded offshore — is only one, vivid example. From the mismanaged windfall of higher prices pushed up by the 1990-1991 Gulf war to perennial controversies over what the national oil company collects, spends and remits to the treasury, straightforward national progress has not transpired.

Yet the most corrosive and lasting aspect gets less attention: the humiliating inability to add value to the barrel before it leaves Nigeria. The embodiment of this is the state-owned refineries that stand idle for long stretches, despite repeated turnaround plans.

Financial Times

Everyone embellishes their CV but this is taking it to a completely different level:

A dietician who bluffed her way into a senior NHS job by exaggerating her experience has been struck off after colleagues found she did not know ‘basic anatomy’ and could have put patients at risk.

Ifenyinwa Chizube Ndulue-Nonso was hired as a dietician at Manchester Royal Infirmary in 2024.

Having moved from Nigeria, she claimed to have experience working with a range of different health problems and nutrition-related diseases as well as working with people with eating disorders and cancer.

However within days of beginning her role, colleagues quickly discovered worrying gaps in her knowledge and inconsistencies with her application.

They found she could barely answer questions about dietetics, struggled to calculate BMI and had only a ‘basic understanding of human anatomy’- even mixing up the small and large intestine.

Mrs Ndulue-Nonso also could not identify a feeding tube, explain what coeliac disease was and believed radiology was used to treat heart failure.

Concerned by her lack of knowledge, the Trust launched an investigation and suspended her within weeks, fearing she was unsafe to practice.

At a disciplinary hearing, the Trust found her guilty of gross misconduct. She was sacked and her appeal failed.

Daily Mail

Christianah Ebenezer took photos during this week’s state visit:

A new portrait of the Prince and Princess of Wales taken by a British-Nigerian photographer on Wednesday at a state banquet was released on Thursday night by Kensington Palace.

The photograph was taken by the photographer Christianah Ebenezer, 34, in Windsor, when members of the royal family welcomed Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the president of Nigeria, and his wife Oluremi Tinubu on a state visit to Britain.

The Princess of Wales showed her skill for diplomatic dressing, wearing a dress by Andrew Gn in the evening in the green of the Nigerian flag and a coat dress during the day by Tolu Coker, a British-Nigerian designer.

Ebenezer also took the Duchess of Edinburgh’s 60th birthday portraits last year, and photographs of the actresses Michaela Cole and Letitia Wright that have been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria, before moving to London as a child.

The Times

The story of Kauna Luka who sent 8 years in Boko Haram captivity:

One night four years ago a group of young soldiers were manning a checkpoint along a remote road in northern Nigeria when a figure began to emerge from the forest. Nervously they raised their weapons, fearing an attack from the terrorists who plague the region.

But as the figure came nearer they saw that it was a woman with a toddler strapped to her back. What was she doing in the forest all alone, they shouted to her. “I’ve been lost for eight years,” she called back. “I’m one of the Chibok girls.”

Abducted from their school in April 2014 by the Islamist militia group Boko Haram, the 276 teenage girls quickly became an international cause célèbre. Known as the “Chibok girls”, after the town in Borno state from where they were snatched, their plight was taken up by prominent figures including Michelle Obama, Angelina Jolie and Pope Francis.

Kauna Luka was one of them. At 16 years old she had been on the verge of going to university and beginning her adult life when the course of her future was suddenly diverted in the most savage way imaginable. For almost a decade she lived as the captive of men whose guiding principle was their rejection of secular education and female emancipation. She subsisted on leaves and rainwater. She was married and gave birth to one of her captor’s children. And then, eventually, she escaped.

Now aged 27, Luka has just begun university. Having spent the four years since her escape going through rehabilitation and relearning much of what she had forgotten from her schooldays, she has this year embarked on the public administration course at Maiduguri University that she had been due to take up before she was kidnapped. She hopes to become a journalist one day.

The Times

Who is Zuby Ejiofor?

The minute news broke that Michigan’s star big man, Hunter Dickinson, was transferring to Kansas, Andy Philachack decided he had seen and heard enough. He rented a U-Haul truck that day and drove 500 miles from Dallas to Lawrence, Kan., for the sole purpose of extracting his son from Bill Self’s program.

Zuby Ejiofor did not want to leave. In fact, nearly everyone in Ejiofor’s life outside of the father figure and mentor he calls “Pops” and “Dad” wanted the barely used freshman to stay.

“I had not one person on my side,” Philachack said. “I had to do this myself.”

So, while Ejiofor was taking an exam on this May day in 2023, the AAU coach, chiropractor and professional poker player who first saw him play in middle school entered his apartment, packed up his possessions, and loaded them into the truck. Zuby was stunned when he returned home to find a bare mattress and nothing else.

“We’re leaving,” Philachack told him.

“What do you mean we’re leaving?” Ejiofor responded.

“You can’t make this decision,” Philachack said. “I’m making it for you.”

The 5-4 coach born in Laos and the 6-9 forward raised in Texas and Nigeria met with Self for an hour. According to Philachack, the Kansas coach offered Ejiofor a $200,000 NIL deal for his sophomore season. Philachack explained that money couldn’t solve their problem. He had repeatedly watched Zuby cry on the floor of his room after sitting out entire games.

The Athletic

Fred Akinsanya and Daniel Raji are going to jail:

A predator and his accomplice have been jailed for a total of 21 years after raping a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was plied with alcohol and drugs.

Nigerian national Fred Akinsanya, 34, and 29-year-old Daniel Raji targeted their victim after buying her drinks at Irish pub Paddy’s Yard in Brixton, south London, on February 8 last year.

They invited the girl and some of her friends back to Raji’s flat to smoke cannabis and dance.

The victim’s friends tried to persuade her to leave with them as they felt uncomfortable but she started blacking out and collapsed, Inner London Crown Court heard.

The defendants then put the girl through a prolonged ordeal, with Raji filming her.

Prosecutor Diana Wilson read to the court the victim’s impact statement, in which she told of now finding it ‘hard to trust people’.

The schoolgirl described her attackers as ‘disgusting’, while also rejecting the offer to watch the footage of what happened because it was ‘too stressful’.

Akinsanya, from South Croydon, denied but was convicted by a jury of rape and has now been jailed for 10 years.

Daily Mail

Remi Tinubu gets a glowing profile in Tatler with plenty of photos too:

Born in 1960, she has served as Nigeria’s First Lady ever since her husband, Bola Tinubu, was elected President in 2023. No stranger to politics, Oluremi served as the senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District at the Nigerian National Assembly between 2011 and 2023, as a member of the All Progressives Congress party.

Prior to that, she had been the First Lady of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007, during the period that her husband was the Governor of the Nigerian capital. During her tenure in the role, she set up the New Era Foundation, which aims to support the ‘all round development of young ones and promote public awareness on environmental health and community service.’

[…]

This latest trip to Britain will be another display of the First Lady’s diplomatic prowess, as well as her impeccable style. She will also deliver a sermon at the Lambeth Palace Chapel and join a reception with representatives from the Church of England.

With decades of experience in the political arena, hers is a star that has long been on the rise. Now, it’s time for Brits to get to know the First Lady of Nigeria.

Tatler

Why are Nigerian archives being buried in the Arctic?

A decommissioned coalmine near the north pole is the last place you’d expect to find Indigenous stories from rural Nigeria, but deep below the Arctic permafrost of Svalbard a storage unit contains a cache of cultural and literary records from the West African country.

The Arctic World Archive (AWA) is a data storage unit where organisations and individuals can deposit records kept on specialist digitised film called Piql that lasts up to 2,000 years. On 27 February, Nigeria became the first African country to place archives at the facility 300 metres beneath a mountain where the cold, dark, dry conditions are perfect for preservation.

Inspired by the nearby Svalbard global seed vault, a collection of more than a million seed samples stored as an insurance policy against catastrophe, AWA was established to hold the “world’s memory” for future generations. Started in 2017 by the Norwegian technology company that developed Piql, it contains an eclectic range of historical and creative records originating in 37 countries, from sources including the Vatican Library and the European Space Agency, and works as diverse as Chopin’s manuscripts and the work of Belgian photographer Christian Clauwers, who has documented the Pacific’s disappearing Marshall islands.

The Nigerian records are a mix of social and cultural history, and archives from its creative industries, drawn from 12 Nigerian organisations, including private art foundations, museums and libraries.

The collection was initiated by historian Nze Ed Emeka Keazor when he was appointed chair of Piql’s first Africa office in Lagos in 2022, and started to approach cultural organisations in Nigeria to encourage them to preserve their records.

“It took me a year and a half of going to Abeokuta in Ogun state to speak to the head of archives at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library,” says Keazor who travelled to Svalbard last month with colleague Esona Onuoha to hand over the archives.

The Guardian

New mocktail (if you’re a mocktail connoisseur like me) just dropped:

A mocktail inspired by a classic Nigerian beverage has been specially created for the King’s banquet as the monarch hosted the first state visit by a Muslim leader during Ramadan in nearly a century.

Guests at the opulent dinner held in honour of Nigerian president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is Muslim, and his wife, first lady Oluremi Tinubu, will be offered a non-alcoholic after dinner tipple called Crimson Bloom.

England rugby captain Maro Itoje and his wife Mimi, Olympic 400m gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu, former Lioness and football pundit Eni Aluko, space scientist Dame Maggie Aderin, broadcaster Ade Adepitan, singer Tiwa Savage and the UK’s first black female Michelin-starred chef Adejoke Bakare were among the 160 guests who gathered with the King, the Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales.

The special mocktail is one of a number of adaptations made at the banquet in St George’s Hall in Windsor Castle because it falls during the holy month of Ramadan.

For the first time in living memory, canapes will be offered ahead of the dinner to offer sustenance to Muslim guests who were unable to partake in iftar – the breaking of their fast – earlier at sunset.

Independent

Quite the escalation in punishment here. This guy is having his citizenship revoked for fraud:

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it has filed and served a civil denaturalization complaint in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Maryland, against Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, a native of Nigeria who organized a vast conspiracy to steal identities and file fraudulent tax returns. In 2017, he was convicted of 19 counts of mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and sentenced to 15 years in prison. But in 2024, then-President Biden commuted his sentence after only six years.

“The Trump Administration will not permit wrongdoers to retain the U.S. citizenship that they were never entitled to in the first place,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “U.S. Citizenship is a privilege, and we will continue to ask courts to revoke a status that was obtained through fraud and deceit.”

The newly filed denaturalization complaint alleges that Kazeem’s fraud scheme, which he committed in the years before and after his naturalization, along with his concealment of his crimes, precluded him from obtaining his naturalization lawfully. The complaint also alleges that Kazeem had, prior to his fraud scheme, engaged in a sham marriage to obtain permanent resident status and then married a second woman, further disqualifying him from naturalization.

According to court documents and evidence presented at Kazeem’s criminal trial, in May 2013, a victim in Medford, Oregon, notified the IRS that false federal and Oregon state tax returns were filed electronically using her and her husband’s personal identifying information (PII) including social security numbers and dates of birth.

An IRS investigation led to search warrants of residences in Illinois, Maryland, and Georgia and to numerous email and instant messenger accounts used by Kazeem and other co-conspirators. At a Chicago residence, agents seized approximately 150 prepaid debit cards and $50,000 in money orders. In Maryland and Georgia, agents seized more than 50 electronic devices, 40 money orders in amounts exceeding $29,000, $14,000 in cash and numerous prepaid debit cards containing over $12,000 in fraudulent tax refunds. The search warrants helped agents identify Kazeem as the leader and mastermind of the scheme.

DoJ Office of Public Affairs

Fingers crossed, the podcast should return next week. In the mean time, enjoy this week’s selection.

Nigerian Media

And they say manufacturing is not thriving in Nigeria:

In a quiet community in Jos, north-central Nigeria, a middle-aged blacksmith uses an axe to scrape a tree branch into the shape of a rifle buttstock. Behind him, two young apprentices pump manual bellows and hammer glowing metal into form. Around the workshop lie iron scraps, unfinished gun parts and crafted stocks, evidence of a traditional craft quietly evolving into an illicit activity.

Bitrus Pam, known locally as Oga, has long forged his craft as a blacksmith. But apart from farm tools, he now often designs and fabricates firearms, a more lucrative but illegal venture that has become an increasing concern in conflict-plagued Nigeria.

In Nigeria, the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) is statutorily responsible for weapons production, but the law also allows licensed private firms, such as Proforce. Yet, alongside this official and lawful system, a shadow industry has taken root. Illegal networks, drawing on traditional blacksmithing skills and modern electric welding, are producing arms beyond regulatory control.

[…]

“In Kwan Pan LGA of Plateau State, we uncovered a blacksmith who once specialised in crafting farming tools but later turned to producing firearms without a license,” said a military source who asked to remain anonymous because he had no clearance to speak on the issue.

He said recent arrests in Plateau State suggest a broader trend: “Electric welders are increasingly shifting into clandestine weapons fabrication, selling their work to criminal networks. Also, among the suspects we have arrested are graduates of technical schools where they learn electric welding and are now applying it illegally.”

Investigators say materials are sourced from everyday markets.

“They use metals, iron water pipes, gas cylinders and welding equipment, most of it purchased where building materials are sold,” another military officer said, adding that in some cases, gunsmiths repurpose motorcycle exhaust springs to assemble pistols. “Some construct weapons from scratch, while others adapt original components, such as the skeletal frame of a foreign-made AK-47, modifying it into a new firearm.”

Daily Trust

A very confusing story. It’s not clear why the “youths” carried out the abduction other than that it was an opportunity too easy to pass up to make some money?

A mortuary attendant at NKST Hospital located at Jato Aka, headquarters of Kwande Local Government of Benue State, MT Tiga, was on Thursday abducted by thugs who wanted to prevent a planned mass burial for the victims of bandit attack on Tyungu Jam and Mbaav communities.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that the abduction prevented families of the victims from access to the corpses which had been deposited at the mortuary as there was no official to attend to them.

Bandits had invaded Tyungu Jam and Mbaav in Yaav and Mbadura Council wards of Kwande LG on March 5, killing several people and injuring many others.

The State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, described the killings as “senseless and barbaric” in a statement issued by his media aide, Solomon Iorpev, and called on security operatives to apprehend the attackers.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that 11 victims were scheduled for mass burial on Thursday, an event that had drawn people and priests from within and outside the state.

However, the process was disrupted when some thugs allegedly invaded the hospital, abducted the mortuary attendant, and sealed the mortuary, denying families access to the bodies.

[…]

When contacted, Chairman of Kwande LG, Neji Terhile, said those mobilising for the mass burial did not consider the volatility of the area.

He added that some victims had already been buried.

“You are aware that these people slept in their houses and were attacked by Fulanis. Mobilizing a mass burial in such a community is a death trap,” the chairman said.

Punch

A rant of an article about the menace of Yahoo boys and what they are doing to young girls:

Every money these boys make is almost wasted on girls, booze, hair plaiting and maintenance, and looking dope like yankees; nothing meaningful. However, the police will not allow them to enjoy the stolen money. It’s like by their appearance yee shall know them – once you are a boy with ear and nose rings, plaited hair, no belt and bogus attire, the police come unto you. Most often, we see them being pushed into police vehicles after their phones and bodies were searched. They are released after they settle. How do we move forward like this?

Now, they are not only taking over our girls but communities. Once they blow, they rent rooms in virgin areas in the cities. The place becomes their ‘hideouts’. Greedy landlords now use the opportunity to jack up house rents, making rents very exorbitant for the common man. And, of course, the young girls flock around them like vultures. They actually serve as live-in lovers. They are not ashamed of street fights. So disrespectful. So spoiled. We are losing these girls, honestly. With them in any community, there’s always a party. Whatever they’re celebrating is unknown to other community members. But you can’t be unaffected by the heavy sounds from the speakers. It gets worse if you despise the lyrics of the music. It’s possible for you to absent-mindedly spend more than two minutes listening to ‘Omblee, Omblee, Omblee’. Whatever that means. After partying, the area is left littered with disposable cups, pure water satchets, and bottle water containers. Indeed, these boys are becoming a nuisance to society.

It will shock you to know that boys in secondary schools are now also into Yahoo business. It’s no longer for jobless people. At a CBT Centre recently, after filling out his JAMB form, a boy ran back to the coordinator and begged him to allow him to make changes in his form. Guess what? The boy said he mistakenly put his Yahoo Yahoo email instead of the one he uses for school purposes. This is the level of moral decadence amongst the youth.

Vanguard

New police campaign just dropped:

As part of effort to wage war against cybercrime, the Ogun State Police Command, has launched the Nigeria Police Force-National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), tagged “Real Odogwu No Dey Hide Face”.

The move is to safeguard the digital cyber space, an initiative of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu.

The IGP, in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, was represented at the introduction by the Director NPF-NCCC, CP Ifeanyi Uche Henry.

He said that the Real Odogwu No Dey Hide Face campaign is being introduced across the Commands, to address the borderless nature of cyber threats, including Identity Theft, Romance Scams, Phishing, Business Email Compromise(BEC), among others.

Tribune

A truly funny story from Anambra:

Nnewi-based native doctor, Ikechukwu John Paul, popularly known as Aka Mmuo has pleaded with the Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo for pardon.

DAILY POST reports that following his arrest, the native doctor was on Friday taken by operatives of Agunechemba to the river where he allegedly performs rituals.

He was accused of performing rituals, including bathing internet fraudsters, Yahoo Boys to scam their victims.

Speaking after he was paraded by the local security operatives, Aka Mmuo begged the governor for forgiveness, stating that he will not indulge in such activities again.

He said, “I want to plead with our able governor, Professor Charles Soludo and all citizens of Anambra State. I didn’t know how the law works.

“I will never go to the River to make sacrifices again. I’m pleading with the governor and the Anambra government that there is a means of forgiveness, they should forgive me. I will never do it again”.

Daily Post

The decade old menace of tuta absoluta may finally be over?

Tomato farmers in parts of northern Nigeria are reporting improved pest control and higher yields following the introduction of a new pest management initiative designed to tackle the destructive Tuta absoluta pest that has devastated tomato production in recent years.

The initiative is being implemented by the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) under the coordination of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

The programme is being carried out in collaboration with international partners, including Razbio UK and the Federal University of Lavras in Brazil.

According to the lead researcher on the project, Dr Oke Abiola, the programme is funded by Innovate UK Business Connect and is aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s food security by protecting tomato production across the value chain.

Abiola explained that the invasive pest, Tuta absoluta—locally known as “Sharon”—has remained a major threat to tomato farms since it first appeared in Nigeria in 2015, causing severe losses for farmers across the country.

To address the problem, NIHORT developed an indigenous Integrated Pest Management (IPM) package designed to control the pest while reducing farmers’ reliance on chemical pesticides.

The package includes two patented bio-pesticides—NIHORT-Lyptol and NIHORT-Raktin—solar-powered Tuta trap trays and an improved tomato seed variety known as HORTITOM 1.

Daily Trust

Non-Nigerian Media

Ije Nwokorie is the only black boss of a FTSE 250 company:

Nwokorie joined the board as a non-executive around the time of the IPO, became chief brand officer and then chief executive. He is the only black chief executive on the FTSE 250.

Before there is time to ask whether Dr Martens might have been better off listed in New York, he answers the question pre-emptively. “People ask if we want to list in America. We’re in Britain. Why would we not big-up our own markets?”

He continues: “I don’t find any limitations on growing this business because we’re listed on the British stock exchange. When I look at the reality of where we are and where we need to go, there’s nothing broken here.”

Nwokorie finds the broader national pessimism towards business baffling. “Why are we in Britain not more excited about the companies that we have?” he asks. “The default position is cynicism as opposed to optimism.”

The waitress interrupts with the first dishes: green plantain chips (his wife’s favourite), aubergine sauce, crispy onions, rice cakes with black-eyed bean hummus, and both prawn and short-rib akara fritters.

Nwokorie, 55, was born in the United States and grew up in Nigeria. He studied architecture at Columbia University in New York before moving to London to follow his then-girlfriend, who had relocated for work. He expected it to be a short stint, but it turned into a permanent move — and a marriage.

“The mythology of Britain in my family wasn’t positive,” he says. His father had spent time in London after getting stuck there during the Nigerian civil war. “He [was in a] bedsit in Cricklewood putting a 5p coin in the heater every two hours. He was freezing himself to death. Growing up my dad never said anything positive about London.”

The Times

Big report on the children who have been taught to fight in Nigeria’s north east:

Yusuf is 15 years old. He is small for his age. His shoulders are narrow and his voice has yet to fully break. But all across his body there are scars. A deep gouge on his shin where he was struck by a piece of burning shrapnel. Another above his right hip where a bullet entered and remains lodged to the day. Marks that will forever remind him of the years he spent serving in Isis’s army of child soldiers.

One night a decade ago, a group of men arrived on motorcycles at his village in Nigeria and abducted him. They carried him off to their stronghold in the bush where they spent the next few years filling his mind with extremist doctrine and training him how to kill. By the time he was ten years old, he was regularly involved in raids against the Nigerian army and skirmishes with rival jihadi groups.

Now, after five years of relentless fighting, he considers himself an experienced soldier. “I should be the one training them,” he said with a smirk when asked what it was like for him to fight against trained military professionals. He may well be right.

The men who kidnapped and groomed Yusuf, whose name has changed to protect him from reprisals, belonged to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which since Isis’s defeat in Syria in 2019 has emerged as the pre-eminent branch within the group’s global network and the torchbearer for its ambitions of re-establishing an Islamic caliphate.

Headquartered on the shifting islands of Lake Chad in Nigeria’s northeastern borderlands, ISWAP is estimated to comprise more than 10,000 fighters, making it by far the largest of any of the group’s provinces.

That the group could have expanded to such a size is more remarkable for the fact that unlike other Isis provinces, such as those in the Middle East and East Africa, almost none of its members are foreign nationals, due to the remoteness of its location. Instead, ISWAP recruitment relies heavily on a programme of mass abductions and forcible conscription. And like Yusuf, many of those who are abducted are children.

The Times

Tech Bros in Lagos be doing too much:

Tunde, determined to impress, once planned a “tech-forward” romantic gesture. He hired a drone to deliver grilled skewers of suya to my balcony because “flowers are too analog.” The drone misread the GPS, crashed into the neighbor’s laundry line and scattered spicy beef across their freshly washed bedsheets. The ensuing shouting match involved three households and one irate landlord waving a broom like a machete.

I laughed until my ribs hurt. Tunde called it “an unexpected product pivot.”

Later, over drinks, he asked if I thought we were “scalable.” I told him love isn’t a start-up. He countered that neither is Lagos, which has an established tech industry. Yet here we are.

A month later Tunde came with me to a cousin’s wedding in Ibadan — a high-stakes mission, as weddings are where aunties sharpen their matchmaking claws. He survived the onslaught of “When is your own wedding?” questions with a polite smile and several small bottles of stout.

During the after-party, as Fuji music vibrated the ground, he whispered, “Your family is like a lively app — no off button.”

I almost kissed him then, swept up by the absurd tenderness of the moment. But my mother appeared, armed with more questions about our future plans, and the spell broke.

New York Times

The race to save Pangolins and other wildlife in Nigeria and Africa:

Last year, I traveled to Nigeria to report on the trafficking of apes out of Africa — a growing problem, driven in recent years by social media videos of chimpanzees and gorillas being kept as pets. While there, I learned about Bili, a baby gorilla who narrowly avoided such a fate. But the selling of chimps, gorillas and bonobos makes up only a small portion of the illegal wildlife business. These images, captured by the Congolese photojournalist Arlette Bashizi, show the breadth of the trade in Nigeria, as well as the efforts to police it.

Above, staff members at the Nigeria Customs Service’s storage facility in Lagos, Nigeria, weigh bags of pangolin scales seized by officers from the agency’s Special Wildlife Office. In one of the largest such seizures, officials intercepted 196 bags filled with scales, possibly representing as many as 38,000 pangolins, which are also known as scaly anteaters. A major factor behind the demand for wildlife products is an array of beliefs about their medicinal powers: The perceived health benefits of rhino horn, for instance, made it more valuable than gold a decade ago, fetching around $30,000 per pound at its peak. Pangolin scales, in traditional Asian medicine, are believed to have the power to treat a variety of ills, from abscesses to cancer.

Some 350 miles to the east, in Calabar, officers from the Nigeria Customs Service lay out animal parts seized from traffickers near the border with Cameroon. The crossing there is part of a route often used by animal traffickers to bring illicit wildlife products and live animals from Cameroon and other African countries into Nigeria, where they are then smuggled to other parts of the world. Last March, customs officers arrested a person entering Nigeria from Cameroon with parrot heads, packs of parrot feathers, heads of African hornbills and chimpanzee parts including hands, feet and heads.

New York Times

Princess of Wales will play a major role in next week’s state visit:

The Princess of Wales is set to play a major role in the upcoming Nigerian state visit, Buckingham Palace has revealed. Between 18 and 19 March, the President of Nigeria, Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his wife, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, will make their way to Britain at the invitation of King Charles and Queen Camilla.

In a sign of their ever-growing influence within the royal family, however, it is Prince William and Catherine who will be the first Windsors to welcome the couple ahead of a dazzling state banquet.

The President and First Lady are scheduled to arrive at London Stansted Airport on the afternoon of 17 March. There, the couple will be greeted by Mark Bevan, Deputy Lieutenant of Essex, on behalf of the King, as well as Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, the Acting High Commissioner of the Nigerian High Commission.

The following morning, the Prince and Princess of Wales will officially welcome the President and First Lady at the Fairmont Hotel Windsor. Their Royal Highnesses will accompany the couple to Datchet Road in Windsor, where they will receive a Ceremonial Welcome before a formal welcome from the King and Queen at the Royal Dias. A Royal Salute will be fired at Windsor Home Park and the Tower of London, ahead of a Salute from The Sovereign’s Escort and the playing of the Nigerian national anthem.

Tatler

News from Kano:

As the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei takes over as Iran’s supreme leader after the assassination of his father in a United States-Israeli attack, hundreds of mourners gathered in a mosque far away from the war in the Middle East to grieve the late leader.

The adherents in northern Nigeria’s Kano State solemnly chanted prayers. At one point during the recitations, the voice of the religious leader that carried over the microphone to all corners of the hall, cracked with grief. Among the crowd, one young man wiped his eyes.

On Sunday, Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei as his father’s replacement. In Kano, the community sees it as a move ensuring the “continuation of his father’s resistance”. The assassination of the elder Khamenei last week in an air strike has stirred deep emotions among Nigeria’s minority Muslim Shia, a group that sees its faith and identity intertwined with that of the larger Shia community in Iran.

For 60-year-old academic Dauda Nalado, the elder Khamenei’s killing was not merely another event in foreign politics; it was the silencing of a revered spiritual teacher.

“Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not only a leader of the Shiite community or even Muslims alone. He is regarded as a leader of oppressed people across the world,” the university professor told Al Jazeera. “If you look at Iran’s involvement in issues concerning Gaza and Palestine, you will understand why many people admire his leadership.”

Al Jazeera

We’ve covered this company on BTH in the past:

Shares in Chariot Resources soared as much as 55 per cent to a high of 15 cents in early trade after the government approved the transfer of six licences into a joint venture with local partners, clearing a significant regulatory hurdle for its Nigerian lithium portfolio.

The approvals cover four exploration licences and two small-scale mining leases previously held by Continental Lithium, which will now be incorporated into a new company called C&C Minerals.

The company says that only routine administrative steps now remain to finalise the transfers, which will allow Chariot and its partner to move straight into active field programs at the projects.

Chariot will hold 66.66 per cent of C&C Minerals, with local partners Continental Lithium retaining a 33.33 per cent stake.

Chariot says it will now move swiftly to systematically validate drill targets in the field so it can get the rods turning across the largely undrilled ground as soon as possible.

The company says the ground already carries a documented history of artisanal production and represents the first time an ASX-listed pure-play lithium company will ever drill for lithium in Nigeria.

The joint venture’s 254-square-kilometre portfolio spans four project clusters dubbed Fonlo, Gbugbu, Iganna and Saki in the Nigerian states of Oyo and Kwara.

The West Australian

One of those stories forever seared in my memory. It happened a few years before I moved to the UK but the investigation was still a big topic when I got here. I recall the Met Police spent something like £6m on the investigation at the time:

The longest unsolved child murder case in modern UK history could still be answered because ‘someone out there knows what happened’, a retired detective has said.

‘Adam’ was a name given by Scotland Yard to a young boy whose dismembered body was discovered floating in the River Thames in London on September 21, 2001.

The child’s identity remains unknown 25 years later with no one ever charged despite an investigation that took police to South Africa, Holland, Germany and Nigeria.

Adam, who is thought to have been a Nigerian boy aged five or six, is believed to have been trafficked to the UK via Germany then murdered in a ritualistic killing.

His body, which had the head and limbs severed, was discovered near the Globe Theatre and numerous high-profile appeals followed, including by then President of South Africa Nelson Mandela.

Now, a new Channel 5 documentary called ‘The Body in The River’ which aired last night has re-examined the heartbreaking and disturbing story of Adam.

Despite a series of people being arrested, there has never been a charge over his murder - but police still believe the evidence they need is somewhere in London.

Andy Baker, a former Metropolitan Police commander who worked on the investigation, has told the programme that the case could still be solved.

Daily Mail

Oxtail and jollof are now available in Oakland:

At 9jaGrills, a newish Nigerian spot near Oakland’s Jack London waterfront, the main dining room follows the standard blueprint for today’s shiny, Instagram-optimized restaurants: the lush faux greenery wall, the neon-lit catchphrase (“Food 🔥, Drinks & Vibes”) in glowing pink cursive. The space is tidy, bright and perfectly pleasant — but, at 10 o’clock on a recent Friday night, it was also totally empty.

Instead, a couple dozen people had crowded out on the small tented patio in back, which was a distinct ecosystem unto itself: a haze of hookah smoke, disco lights, cheap furniture and mystery drinks in red plastic cups. On the big-screen TV, two identical twin DJs from Nigeria spun Afrobeats on stage in Lagos. Everyone else on the patio appeared to be West African, and apart from one table of middle-aged gentlemen dipping fufu into a big bowl of stew, no one else seemed to have come for the food at this hour.

It was more of a backyard party vibe. A kick back with a couple of cold Trophy Lagers vibe.

Not that we were going to let that deter us from our mission. We had made the trip because we had a wicked craving for oxtails, and we’d heard on good authority that this food-truck-turned-brick-and-mortar-lounge was the spot in Oakland for Nigerian-style oxtails and jollof rice — and maybe the only spot where you can reliably score those dishes until midnight on the weekend.

KQED

Enjoy the week’s selection below

Nigerian Media

Remember that disease that ravaged Nigeria’s ginger crop? It has done a crazy number on prices as expected:

Our correspondent gathered from various major markets across the North that a bag of dried ginger, which used to sell at N180, 000, now costs N600,000 to N610,000. Three years ago, a measure (mudu) was sold at N2, 700, but today, it costs N28,000.

However, the price of ginger varies based on the type and its purity, in terms of dust and other unwanted particles. Although some people prefer fresh ginger, most users and exporters depend on the dried type.

Alhaji Isah Garba, a major player in the Yankaba spice market and a ginger farmer in Kaduna State for decades, said the surge in ginger price was due to increased global demand.

He also said the discovery of numerous health benefits associated with ginger was another factor contributing to the commodity’s price increase.

Garba explained that pest infestation, which started in 2023, significantly reduced ginger production, resulting in a severe scarcity of the commodity in Nigerian markets.

Daily Trust

Baby price watch:

The Police Command in Lagos State has arrested a 30-year-old man who allegedly sold his sister’s one-month-old baby for N2 million.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the suspect, a resident of Igbogbo in the Ikorodu area of the state, claimed that he sold his younger sister’s baby to fund their mother’s burial.

The mother of the baby reported the incident to the police leading to the arrest of the suspect.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Olohundare Jimoh, has ordered the transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, for further investigation.

Speaking with NAN on Friday in Lagos, the suspect who confessed to the act, blamed poverty for his actions.

The suspect claimed that he met the woman who bought the baby on Facebook.

“Hardship pushed me to commit the act. My sister agreed to the idea.

“I met the woman who is in need of a child on Facebook, and after negotiations, she asked me to bring the baby to Mile 2.

Punch

A very sad story of nominative determinism:

A 56-year-old civil servant, Mrs Cordellia Onuwabagbe, yesterday narrated before a Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere how a romantic relationship between her daughter and Benjamin Best Nnanyereugo, popularly known as Killaboi, allegedly ended in the death of the young woman.

Nnanyereugo is standing trial before Justice Ibironke Harrison over the alleged murder of Miss Augusta Oseodion Onuwabagbe.

Testifying as a prosecution witness, Onuwabagbe told the court that she first met the defendant in 2021 after her daughter introduced him as her boyfriend. According to her, Augusta had sent her a message on December 1, 2021, informing her that she was in a relationship with him.

“As a single mother trying to be safe, I asked her to bring him home. She brought him on December 8, 2021,” she said.

She added that she accepted him as part of the family after meeting him. “I saw him, and my daughter said she loved him. I accepted him as a son. He used to come to the house often. We would talk and sometimes eat together,” she said.

Onuwabagbe told the court that her daughter was a 400-level student of Medical Laboratory Science at Lead City University and was on course for a first-class degree.

According to her, the relationship later showed troubling signs. She recalled that on November 22, 2022, Augusta and the defendant travelled abroad for a holiday. She said she had questioned him about the source of the funds for the trip, to which he claimed he won a sports bet.

However, about a week into the trip, she received a disturbing video from the defendant. In the video, Augusta appeared angry following an alleged quarrel between the couple.

“He did not record the part where he beat her. My daughter later told me he abused her, smashed her phone, pulled her hair and beat her,” she said.

“But when she became angry and threw pillows at him, he recorded that part and sent it to me.”

Guardian

A story from Ilorin. See if you can count the number of failures that led to this tragedy:

Details emerged on Monday on how a man died in a fire incident which occurred at Lafia Hotel, in Ilorin, last Thursday.

The fire outbreak occurred at about 23:38 hours at the hotel along Coca-Cola road in the state capital, in an apartment used for short-let purposes.

The unidentified man was burnt beyond recognition according to graphic pictures on the incident.

Details of the incident indicated that the man allegedly lodged in the room of one of the female occupants engaged in commercial sex to probably pass the night.

Findings by DAILY POST revealed that before the fire outbreak, the lady who went out to buy some items, locked the man inside the room as it was against the rules of the hotel management for women to keep men overnight in the facility.

Operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, have commenced investigation into the incident, as all the sex workers have deserted the facility.

The fire incident which was reportedly triggered by power surge involved a building comprising two flats with three bedrooms each, all of which were affected by the fire.

Daily Post

Really don’t want to sound harsh but why are you patronising a ‘cleric’ for a passport?

A wave of indignation has swept through the Nigerian diaspora in the United States following allegations that a Texas-based man, identified simply as “KO”, has defrauded numerous citizens of thousands of dollars under the guise of a Nigerian passport intervention exercise.

The suspect, who presents himself as a clergyman and “Prophet of the Most High God,” reportedly operates under the company name Global Tours and Partyride LLC through which he runs what he calls a “Passport Intervention Program”. The phone number on a flyer advertising his services – +1(682) 717-3360 did not connect as of the time of filing this report. He did not also respond to a message sent to his Facebook Messenger. Interior Ministry officials in Nigetia said they were analyzing the complaints and actively looking into the case.

‘Not one of us’

The Nigeria Immigration Service NIS has however denounced activities of the said cleric, saying he is neither their personnel nor vendor.

A senior official of the Service who spoke to Saturday Vanguard but begged that his name should not be mentioned because his brief does not include speaking to the Press, said the fraudster was being tracked.

He however admitted the difficulty in tracking him for now because he has discarded his known telephone line and vacated the address he gave to his victims.

The official also blamed the development on the usual attitude of many Nigerians to seek “quick fixes” even in situations where government has provided a seamless, legal route for certain services.

“Most of our processes are digitized. Payments can be made online after filling the necessary forms online.

“People have been using this option including Nigerians resident in Nigeria. It is a simple, do it yourself process. You just visit our website and follow the necessary prompts.”, he said.

Vanguard

Same energy:

Seventy-five Nigerians are counting their losses after being scammed out of over N100 million by fake visa agents, promising them Canadian visas. The victims, desperate for a better life, sold their assets, rented out apartments, and even borrowed money to meet the N3 million to N12 million demanded by the scammers.

One of the victims simply identified as Mr. Promise, allegedly paid N11 million and resigned from his job, only to realize that it was a scam. He’s not alone; many have been left with nothing, and refunds seem unlikely.

Mr. Promise sold his available property and also convinced his younger brother to “utilize this golden opportunity” to relocate to Canada. A source close to him said, besides losing his job, “the man is in a dire strait as he cannot afford his children’s school fees and he is also very sick as a result of the loss of his money. He shuttles between Port Harcourt and his village just to make ends meet”.

At the center of it all is Dr Nekebari Nathan Dambere, a self- acclaimed travel trainer, a medical doctor who was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, over an alleged N39.1million visa scam in Port Harcourt.

When contacted, Dambere admitted that he is not a travel agent but a travel trainer. He said, “sometimes people pay money through me to the middlemen some of who are in Nigeria while others are outside the country”. He owned up to the fact that money paid through him so far “is about N100million”, adding that the agents involved are “talking of paying back the money in percentage”. He appealed that both the EFCC and the Nigeria police are working hard to ensure that the money is collected from the agents and paid back to the owners. He didn’t give a specific time frame for the refund.

Vanguard

Non-Nigerian Media

As you must know by now, this letter is a fan of Joke Bakare and Chishuru. Here she is hosting a West African dinner for friends at her home. Warning, the article may leave you seriously hungry (gift link below):

The funny thing about my approach to hosting is that when I have my Nigerian friends over, I don’t often make Nigerian food, I’ll usually make something else. So the people I’ve usually invited for a traditional west African meal aren’t always as familiar with the food, and they’re often surprised, not having realised it can be this nuanced and layered.

The typical representation of west African food tends to be that it’s mainly one-pot dishes. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There aren’t courses as such, but there are distinct elements; the food is far more elevated and complex than people sometimes give it credit for.

That’s true of the dishes specifically, but also more broadly speaking in the foodways. I’m Nigerian, but I always say my cooking and restaurant are west African. Moi moi is a Nigerian dish, but you’ll find similar steamed bean puddings across other west African countries. Mburu fass is a Senegalese dessert, yet there’s a variation of it made in northern Nigeria, where I grew up. Different countries have their own interpretations of the same foods.

I don’t get to host dinners at home as often as I once did, so I really enjoy when I get the chance to welcome people into my home. The most important thing for me is that everyone has a good time and that they’re fed and watered.

Financial Times

You may have heard there’s a war going on in the Middle East:

A tanker carrying liquefied-natural gas to Europe has changed course, according to data platform Kpler, an early indication that a bidding war for energy between Asian and European buyers is underway.

The BW Brussels, carrying 71 kilotonnes of LNG from Nigeria, was signaling France as its destination but U-turned on Tuesday. The vessel is now heading toward the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, according to Kpler, suggesting it is on route to Asia.

Ships are increasingly diverting around Africa to avoid the Suez Canal.

WSJ

Nine women talk to The Times about their approach to leadership. One of them is 31 year old Eva Chisom Chukwunelo from Abuja:

How She Leads: An amputee who has used a prosthetic leg since 2013, after having osteomyelitis, a bone infection, Ms. Chukwunelo is a disability advocate who speaks globally about disability inclusion and feminism. She is also the founder of The Body as Canvas, an initiative that stages art exhibitions celebrating disabled bodies and the stories behind them.

What has been hardest about bringing lived experience and storytelling into policy conversations?

In Nigeria, where disability is often discussed at a distance from the lived realities of disabled people, the obstacle is that stories are welcomed for inspiration but resisted when they challenge power, funding priorities or existing systems.

As a woman with a disability, I have spoken in cultural, advocacy and leadership spaces about navigating inaccessible environments, exclusion from creative and professional opportunities and the cost of visibility as a disabled woman. In many of these rooms, my story is received with admiration. The response is often emotional and affirming, but it stops there. What rarely follows is structural action: no reconsideration of access, no shift in programming, no reallocation of resources. It shows how systems fail in real life.

NYT

Feature on raves in Lagos rewriting the rules of nightlife. This is a topic we discussed on our podcast with Odun Eweniyi last year (LINK):

On a recent Friday night, thousands of mostly young people trooped into a large auditorium in Lekki, an upscale part of Lagos.

Inside, it was hard to discern the faces of people just meters away. The whole hall was dark, lit only by flashing green strobe lights from the stage. Those gathered had come together for therapy.

But this was Group Therapy, a popular rave in Lagos, where revelers come seeking a different party scene they wouldn’t find anywhere in Nigeria’s commercial heart of Lagos.

Lagos’ nightlife scene had, for decades, been dominated by table culture, a club experience that prioritizes how much people spend on drinks and prime seating. The party environment encourages a competitive atmosphere that young people who live in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, say has shut them out amid skyrocketing inflation.

At Group Therapy, there are no tables. Revelers in Lekki danced shoulder to shoulder. There was only one small bar, selling drinks for much less than the typical Lagos nightclub.

“At raves, the dance floor is present. You go to a usual Lagos party, and there is no dance floor,” DJ Aniko, the founder of Group Therapy, told The Associated Press. “We barely have spaces to just dance, spaces you can just go to literally have a nice time. Most places you have to make a reservation, or book a table, it is a lot more complicated.”

Independent

Long time no Tems:

“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m like this today…” Tems confesses with an awkward giggle. What she’s referring to is the spirit of evangelism that seems to take over her during our call. Within minutes of getting on the phone, she’s instructed me not to truncate my name from ‘Solomon’ to ‘Sol’ because “if you have a king’s name, you mustn’t shorten it,” declared that the secret to happiness is submitting yourself to God, and stated that “Seek God first” is the best advice she’s ever been given. “I became Tems after that,” the 30-year-old Nigerian singer reflects.

Given that Tems’ warm and earthy vocal tones have captivated listeners around the world in the six years since her breakout feature on Wizkid’s “Essence” in 2020, these aren’t words to be taken lightly. Over the years, the alté pioneer has transformed from a self-described “quiet child” whose only dream was to be heard, to shattering records in every direction. With her feature on Future’s 2022 single “With U”, she became the first Nigerian artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 100, and in 2025 she became the first female African artist to accumulate over one billion streams. Most recently, she topped charts once more with Dave collab “Raindance”, presented at the Brits, and was named Hennessy’s latest brand ambassador. Whatever Tems is doing, it’s working.

DAZED

Update on this story we covered here last year. Kindly note that I had nothing to do with this:

A drug dealer has admitted beating a vulnerable former chef to death after allegedly forcing him to sleep beside dogs.

The body of 55-year-old Dimitrios Tsavdaris was found in a foetal position inside a “cuckoo” flat in Hackney, north London, after he succumbed to weeks of violent attacks, the Old Bailey was previously told.

He had been taken there from the home of Bamidele Fawehinmi in Wickford, Essex, where he allegedly slept on a mattress in a garage beside American pitbull cross-breed dogs.

Weighing just over eight stone, the victim was a frail “vulnerable person” who may have been dead or dying for several days before his body was found on January 29 2024, jurors heard.

He had suffered multiple fractures to his ribs, face and breastbone as well as old and new bleeding on the brain and internal injuries.

On Thursday, partway through his retrial at the Old Bailey, Fawehinmi, 33, from Haringey, north London, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC discharged the jury from returning a verdict on a third charge of servitude.

He was remanded into custody to be sentenced on May 8.

Detective Superintendent Kelly Allen, who led the Met’s investigation, said: “I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Dimitrios must have gone through in the final weeks of his life, enslaved by Bamidele Fawehinmi and living in fear for his life.

“Dimitrios was a frail man who did not pose a threat to Fawehinmi. His initial claim in police interview that he acted in self-defence is utterly preposterous, and the words of a coward.

“Fawehinmi is a violent bully, who preyed on vulnerable people to exploit them for his own gain. His conviction will not erase the pain felt by Dimitrios’s family but I hope the fact he will spend a significant period of time behind bars brings them some small sense of justice.”

Daily Mail

Kano’s female keke riders:

Sporting a pink knee-length veil, Umma Hani Yusuf Khalid has recently found financial stability as a rickshaw taxi driver, a trade that was unthinkable for her in Nigeria’s conservative Muslim city of Kano two years ago.

As more women are having to fend for themselves amid economic hardship, they are increasingly venturing into trades previously dominated by men.

Khalid’s pink three-wheeled electric rickshaw stood out on the frenetic streets of the region’s commercial hub, as she pulled over to pick up women passengers.

The 35-year-old divorced mother of two is one of 100 women rickshaw taxi drivers plying the city’s chaotic roads under Mata Zalla, a cooperative promoting women’s empowerment.

“As a female rickshaw operator, you need to be strong because you made the resolve to go through all kinds of challenges,” Khalid told AFP.

AFP News

The coming week is going to be a busy one on 1914 Reader. Tomorrow (yes, Sunday) morning, the next chapter of The Whispering Class will go out. This one is about murder. A lot of murders. On Monday, we publish our next read-along of How Africa Works and on Wednesday you’ll get our podcast with Dan Wang. I also have a meditation on fish I hope to sneak out sometime in the week. Stay with us and don’t go anywhere else!

I make a deliberate choice not to include stories about ritual killings in this newsletter because I find them unsettling and they are of course easy fuel for stereotypes. But I see them in the papers all the time and while I will still not include them, I really hope that this is a problem that will go away.

Enjoy the usual selection below.

Nigerian Media

Some goats immigrated to Nigeria and farmers are happy:

But today, a quiet revolution is unfolding within Kano’s livestock sector and it is being driven not by cattle, but by rare, foreign-bred goats that are turning small-scale farmers into high-value livestock entrepreneurs.

For many farmers, small ruminants were once considered secondary livestock, often raised for domestic consumption or modest income.

Today, foreign exotic goats are becoming prized assets that attract wealthy buyers, commercial breeders, and livestock enthusiasts alike.

For Malam Sunusi Ali Musa, the journey into exotic livestock breeding began accidentally, as he claims to have started it as a passion.

“We started with breeding luxury birds and noticed that people showed intense interest in animals that are not commonly found in this region. We then decided to explore exotic goat breeding, not for business purposes, but as a passion,” he said.

The farmer noted that his first investment was acquiring Saanen goats from the Middle East, a decision that would later redefine his business fortunes.

“Widely regarded as one of the world’s most productive dairy goat breeds, Saanen goats are known for their exceptional milk yield and adaptability. These goats produce large quantities of milk daily, and are relatively resistant to diseases. Some buyers keep them for commercial milk production as the milk is said to be highly medicinal, while others keep them as luxury animals in their homes or farmhouses,” he explained.

Daily Trust

You read a story like this and you really really just wonder…

The Federal High Court sitting in Gombe and presided over by Justice H.I.O. Oshomah on Thursday sentenced 51-year-old Hamidu Damisa to prison for child trafficking offences.

Damisa, a resident of Putuki Pargale in Balanga Local Government Area, was accused of selling a one-year-old boy, identified as Destiny, from Bogar Degri in the same local government.

The prosecuting counsel, Musa Yila Kopyo, told the court that the defendant was arraigned on a two-count charge related to child trafficking.

According to him, “The first count is contrary to Section 13(1) and (2) of the Child Trafficking Law, 2015.”

He added that the second count alleged that Damisa attempted to sell the same child, an offence “contrary to Section 29 of the Child Trafficking Law, as amended in 2015, and punishable under Section 21 of the same law.”

When the charges were read in court, Damisa pleaded not guilty.

During the trial, the prosecution presented two witnesses, including the convict’s wife, who testified in the matter.

After considering the submissions and evidence presented, Justice Oshomah found Damisa guilty and sentenced him in accordance with the provisions of the Child Trafficking Law.

Punch

A recurring story, this time from Calabar:

There was pandemonium in the early hours of Thursday as commercial drivers in Calabar blocked major roads in protest against alleged multiple taxation, harassment, and extortion by both authorized and illegal enforcement agents in the state capital.

The protest, which affected major routes in Calabar, including areas around the University of Calabar, caused a gridlock as drivers barricaded roads to drive home their demand, as well as seek for urgent government intervention.

Speaking with journalists, Mr Etim Asuquo, a minibus driver, said in addition to the daily ticket payment of ₦700, operators are still harassed and fined under different subheads on a daily basis.

“We buy tickets every day, even on Saturdays and public holidays, yet they won’t allow us to work freely. If you stop briefly to pick a passenger, they accuse you of wrong parking and fine you between ₦60,000 and ₦100,000,” he informed.

“It is sad that in Cross River we buy ticket everyday including public holidays and Saturday for 700 naira which is one of the most expensive in the country. This is not so in our neighboring States,” Asuquo said.

Vanguard

As you know, we like to keep an eye on fake things here. This is not an easy task since it can be very difficult to distinguish between what is fake and what is real. Take for example this story about fake miracles:

The Ondo State Police Command has arrested six persons accused of posing as pastors to defraud residents through staged miracles in Idanre, Idanre Local Council.

The suspects, identified as Fadahunsi, Kolade, Tijani, Iyanuoluwa, Arijesulola and Ademola, were apprehended during a coordinated operation by tactical teams of the command in collaboration with Community Safety Officers.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Abayomi Jimoh, said the suspects allegedly operated as a group, assigning roles to create a façade of legitimacy and win the confidence of their victims.

He said preliminary investigation showed that they posed as pastors and religious leaders, staging fake miracles and spiritual interventions to deceive unsuspecting members of the public.

“They allegedly exploited the faith, emotions and vulnerabilities of individuals by promising divine solutions to financial difficulties, health challenges and other personal problems, only to defraud them through various forms of obtaining by false pretence and related scams,” he said.

Guardian

Three people have been killed by hippos in Adamawa:

Kiri community in Shelleng Local Government Area of Adamawa State has raised concern over frequent attacks by hippopotamuses, which have resulted in the deaths of three people.

The attacks have occurred on different occasions, killing residents and injuring others.

The latest incident, which took place on Friday, led to the death of 65-year-old Yakubu Galadima, popularly known as Yakubu Kuri, while he was fishing.

A source close to one of the deceased told DAILY POST, “This particular person was a household man; he has about eight children. Yesterday, after Asr prayer, he went to the river to catch fish, as it is his means of livelihood, when he met his end.

“The incident happened when he was inside his fishing boat; the hippo appeared. At first he did not see it, and people outside saw it and tried to alert him, but he couldn’t hear them calling him.

“Before he noticed, it had already reached his boat. He got scared by its sudden appearance and jumped into the river, leaving his boat, and that is how the hippo got to him and caught him by his leg, then dragged him into the deeper side of the river.”

He added that the hippopotamus belongs to the government and cannot be killed without official approval.

Daily Post

News from Mapo Customary Court:

GRADE A Customary Court, Court 2, sitting at Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, has ruled in a divorce suit brought before it by a woman, Apeke, who dragged her husband, Kamoru, before the court, claiming that he was irresponsible, not loving and caring, brutish in behaviour and also fetish in nature.

Apeke told the court that she experienced woe and pain in almost all the 19 years she was married to her husband.

The plaintiff explained that the defendant was a barber when they met and got married.

According to her, the defendant later gave up his career as a barber and became a herbalist.

Apeke further said that Kamoru then became involved in fetish practices and kept disturbing and frightening objects in their house, which made her feel uncomfortable at home.

She also stated that her husband was indifferent to her well-being.

The plaintiff said that the defendant regularly burned substances that produced strong odours which she claimed were affecting her health.

She added that her condition was worsening day by day.

According to Apeke, she solely bore the burden of running their home because Kamoru regularly dodged his responsibilities towards her and their children.

Tribune

A report on the aftermath of the Singa Market fire in Kano:

On Saturday, Feb. 15, around 4 p.m., a fire broke out at Gidan Glass, a plaza at Singa Market. Witnesses say the fire spread quickly, leaping from shop to shop before traders could salvage much. It burned for two days. By the time it was contained, dozens of shops had been reduced to charred frames.

Sulaiman and his brother’s shop was among them.

When he sat in the mosque that morning, he was mourning years of hard work — the savings, the small profits he reinvested, and his mother’s inheritance. “After his grandfather died, the inheritance was shared,” his close friend, Abba Abubakar, told HumAngle. “His mother gave him her portion to grow the business.”

Now, everything is gone.

The fire that tore through Singa Market is the latest in a long line of infernos that have become almost routine in Kano markets. Within 48 hours, early estimates placed losses in billions of naira. But beyond the figures lies a deeper story: how recurring fires, weak emergency infrastructure, and structural neglect continue to threaten the livelihoods of thousands of small-scale traders who form the backbone of the city’s informal economy.

Sulaiman’s story is that of hundreds of traders whose stalls were destroyed. In markets like Singa, capital is built slowly from daily turnover and rarely backed by insurance. Many traders rely on family contributions, cooperative loans, or personal savings. A single disruption can undo a decade of effort.

HumAngle

Non-Nigerian Media

News from Saskachoon:

Black physicians make up 1.5 per cent of the physicians in the country, according to Dr. Nnamdi Ndubuka, president of the Black Physicians of Canada group. Statistics Canada figures shows about 4.5 per cent of Canada’s population identifies as Black.

“There is a gap in the number of required Black physicians; there should be enough to provide care for the Black population,” Ndubka said.

Black Physicians of Canada unites Black doctors across the country and offers mentorship and supports. It also actively encourages Black people to study medicine.

Ndubuka says immigration programs aimed at recruiting internationally trained doctors to work in Canada have helped increase the number of Black doctors in the country.

The SHA does not measure the number in the province, but Ndubka estimated there are 25 Nigerian doctors and specialists in Prince Albert and about 200 in the province. The Canadian Association of Nigerian Physicians and Dentists has about 2,000 members across the country.

CBC

And in another piece about family doctors in Canada, Nigerian doctors feature as well:

Another new physician, Dr. Godwin Agbonkhese, 42, said he received offers from five different communities in Alberta but chose Stettler because of the warm welcome.

“One of the major deciding factors was the recruitment team,” said Dr. Agbonkhese, who came from Nigeria with his wife, a nurse, and their four children.

Word about Stettler had spread among Nigerian doctors relocating to Canada. Of the seven new physicians, six are from Nigeria.

While Mr. Lovell was pleased, he said Canada should produce more medical school graduates and family doctors so it need not rely on international physicians, especially from developing nations.

“It does leave Nigeria in a terrible situation,” Mr. Lovell said. “They’re training all these doctors that are phenomenal doctors and that are leaving to go to other places in the world.”

New York Times

News from West Yorkshire:

Hachikaru Prosper Nyesom admitted fraud by false representation at Leeds Crown Court this week, along with her sister-in-law, Veronica Odey.

Odey did not initially know her work documents were being utilised but failed to stop the crime once she became aware.

The court heard that both women had come to the UK in the spring of 2024, with 22-year-old Odey acquiring a work permit for skilled employment.

Nyesom, 35, only had a permit to work in unskilled jobs.

Both had applied for work in the care-home sector.

The scam was uncovered in May 2024 when a picture of Nyesom sent to a recruitment agency “did not tally”, prosecutor Carmel Pearson said.

An investigation was launched and it was found that Nyesom had set up an email address in Odey’s name.

It was also found that Odey had paid £6,565 to Nyesom - the wages for the jobs Nyesom had secured under her sister-in-law’s name.

A probation report into Nyesom found that she had a nine-year-old son in Nigeria whom she was supporting with her wages.

Mitigating on her behalf, Erin Kitson-Parker said her fraud was “not sophisticated” but conceded it was serious.

She said: “She was not doing it to drive fast cars or have holidays, it was to send it to her son.

“She was mis-advised in her decision making.”

Nyesom, of Hepworth Gardens, Wakefield, has no previous convictions in the UK or Nigeria.

Odey, of Marion Grove, Wakefield, also has no previous convictions.

Mitigating on her behalf, Kristina Goodwin said: “She had no knowledge of this fraudulently activity until she confronted Nyesom.

“But she did continue to let her use them because the money was going back to her child”

Yorkshire Evening Post

Leslie Mba is going to prison for 19 years:

A man who was in Houston illegally has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison for his role in a romance scam and business email compromise scheme that defrauded victims of more than $4 million.

40-year-old Leslie Chinedu Mba pleaded guilty on Dec. 4, 2025, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit false statements in immigration documents. Mba was ordered to serve 228 months in federal prison.

Prosecutors said that from April 2018 through Dec. 2023, Mba and others, inside and outside the United States, carried out business email and romance scams targeting individuals and businesses.

According to court records, the scams often began overseas, where co-conspirators gained unauthorized access to business email accounts and redirected payments to fraudulent bank accounts.

Victims believed they were sending money to legitimate businesses, but the funds were instead funneled into accounts that were controlled by Mba and others.

Federal authorities said Mba and his co-conspirators acted as “money mules,” opening or using existing bank accounts to collect and move money from the fraud.

FOX 26 Houston

Who is Aleti Crystal? She beats men for a living:

A professional man-beater is in the business of vigilante justice, particularly against abusive men.

Aleti Crystal appeared on the TUBTS podcast to reveal her thought-provoking venture. Crystal is a modern-day superhero for the beaten and battered. She detailed her business to the podcast host, with the clip going viral on social media.

“I recently started a business where I beat men who beat pregnant women, underage girls, or rape victims,” she shared. “I will start working with the police, and my goal is to beat at least 1,000 men before 2027.”

The business has already turned a profit, one more valuable than her content creation. Crystal uses social media to promote her business, gaining many of her clients through platforms like TikTok.

However, according to the Nigerian Bulletin, Crystal does not do it all alone. She works with a team for her vigilante mission, as the women clients task them with teaching men the hard way.

“I beat them up properly,” added Crystal. “I have a group of people that I work with to beat them into shape.”

Black Enterprise

A feature on Temi Coker and his work in Dallas:

Duality is at the heart of artist Temi Coker’s work. The Dallas-based artist was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria until the age of 12, when his family came to America. “The idea of duality is something I still struggle with,” Coker says. “If I leave here and I go to Nigeria, they see me as ‘You’re kind of one of us, but you talk different.’” But these complicated ideas of identity and duality have always been embraced in Coker’s art.

As an introverted pastor’s kid, Coker grew up playing the keys at church. He says music was his first exposure to creativity and self-expression. “I could see how it could make people feel something, and it was also for me to express whatever I was feeling,” he remembers. He went to college originally pursuing a biomedical engineering degree, but switched to a degree in digital media. After graduating college, Coker taught photography and design at his old high school. He was especially passionate about encouraging high school students that careers in creative industries were possible.

[…]

The collection officially launched online in January, but Coker isn’t trying to put too much pressure on performance. One of the most meaningful purchases was by the mother of a longtime friend who’d seen him struggle with the decision to change his college degree. He tells another story of a big group chat with people from Nigeria with the last name Coker. Someone from the group chat texted about Temi Coker’s collection, saying, “We don’t have a Walmart in Nigeria, but this person has our last name. Let’s support him any way we can.” Coker says, “It was really cool to see that this collab is reaching back home.”

D Magazine

Suya is now available in Charlotte, North Carolina

Like the lamb mafé, suya reinvigorated my on-again-off-again yearning to dig deeper into my Pan-Africanism bag.

I’m serious. After the first plastic forkful of beef suya, I was ready to trade in my Ralph Lauren polo shirt and cargo pants for a long, flowing royal blue and gold agbada, listen to more Fela Kuti, read more Frantz Fanon and maybe even dump my European name from something like Ajala Babayaro like when rapper Mos Def changed his name to Yasiin Bey.

To tie this back to the beginning, my favorite barbecue in Charlotte is located on the edge of a vacant parking lot on West Carson Boulevard in an itty bitty food trailer hidden from street view behind another food trailer on the side of a hookah lounge. And it’s called Suya King.

The Charlotte Observer

Enjoy the usual selection below

Nigerian Media

This story left me somewhat speechless:

Residents of Madalla, Zuma, and Chachi—communities situated along the Abuja-Kaduna Highway in Niger State—are flocking to a major road construction site to mine what they believe are precious stones.

Abuja Metro reports that the amateur miners, including children, youth, and married women, are scavenging for minerals within the gravel deposits supplied for the road project.

The residents claim to be extracting valuable minerals, which some have identified as silver or even gold.

From mechanics to miners

One of the miners, Musa Ibrahim, said he has spent the past week mining and purchasing the stones.

He intends to take the minerals to Ilesha in Osun State, a town where he has been engaged in the mineral business for years.

Similarly, Abubakar Ibrahim, a motorcycle mechanic in Madalla, has partially abandoned his trade for this newfound venture.

He told our reporter that since the discovery roughly two weeks ago, about 500 people from various communities along the highway have been participating in daily mining activities from dawn until dusk.

Our reporter found Ibrahim inside his mechanic workshop, using the same hammers he employs for repairs to extract minerals from the rocks.

He described the business as a lucrative, albeit temporary, opportunity that earns him about N15,000 daily.

“Most of the people you see mining will later sell their finds to merchants at rates between N3,000, N5,000, or more, depending on the quantity and the seller’s experience in the trade,” Ibrahim explained.

Daily Trust

You can now get motorcycle transport for an additional 4 hours in Gombe to celebrate Ramadan. Don’t mention:

The Gombe State Police Command has announced the extension of the relaxation of motorcycle movement restrictions from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. throughout the holy month of Ramadan and beyond.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Buhari Abdullahi, said the decision followed “extensive security consultations” and was aimed at accommodating increased religious and social activities during and after Ramadan.

According to the statement, the adjustment “reflects the Command’s commitment to accommodating the increased religious, social, and communal activities taking place during Ramadan, as well as the period following the month when festive and community engagements remain high.”

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Umar Chuso, reassured residents of the Command’s readiness to maintain law and order despite the relaxed movement window.

“The Command remains unwavering in its commitment to maintaining peace, protecting lives and property, and ensuring that the relaxed movement window does not compromise public safety,” he said.

Punch

Update on Makoko:

Relative peace has returned to Makoko after weeks of protests by aggrieved residents following the demolition of the waterfront settlement by the Lagos State government. The area was, before now, under the grip of hostility, tension and uncertainty until the arrival of truce, thanks to a five-point agreement reached between the residents and representatives of government.

Recall that members of an ad-hoc committee set up by the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, on Monday, visited Makoko for an on-the-spot assessment of the demolished area. A stakeholders meeting between the residents, the House ad hoc committee led by its chairman, Mr Noheem Adams, and the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on E-GIS and Urban Renewal, Dr Babatunde Olajide later gave birth to the agreement signed by all parties.

According to Hon. Adams who read the agreement: “Our decisions as a House after deliberations by all is that Makoko community should stop all building on the demolished properties; Makoko community should set up a 10-man committee to deliberate on the remuneration for the compensation of displaced residents; the SA on E-GIS should set a boundary on where to stop the regeneration plan; we agree that the regeneration plan, that is the water-city project, will be for Makoko; and lastly, there is no plan for the elimination of Makoko“.

Vanguard

Only in Nigeria will a story like this make perfect sense:

The Iyaloja-General of Nigeria, Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, is set to commission the newly built Mosque by Nigerian prophet, Primate Elijah Ayodele, on Saturday, February 21, 2026.

The mosque, which was unveiled on Saturday, February 14, 2026, was named after Madam Abibatu Mogaji, the late mother of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Madam Mogaji was the grandmother of the Iyaloja-General; therefore, commissioning the mosque would be a great honour for the President’s daughter.

During the unveiling, Folashade Tinubu-Ojo sent several Iyaloja and Babalojas to represent her due to her unavoidable absence, while promising to be physically present at the commissioning scheduled for Saturday.

Speaking on Saturday about his decision to build the Mosque and name it after President Tinubu’s mother, Primate Ayodele stated that it was a decision borne out of divine direction, adding that it also serves as a message of unity across religions.

“Building this mosque isn’t because I want attention or anything from anyone; it was a divine instruction that I cannot ignore.

“I am only answerable to God, so whatever anyone says doesn’t matter to me as long as God is pleased with me.

Tribune

Useful public health intervention by the Kano State government and gives you a sense of the scale of the problem:

The Kano State Government has approved the sum of ₦99 million for the implementation of Phase I of its Anti-Rabies Control Programme in a renewed effort to strengthen public health and boost livestock development across the state.

The approval was granted under the leadership of Abba Kabir Yusuf as part of the administration’s commitment to protecting residents from preventable but deadly diseases.

The programme, which will be coordinated by the Kano State Ministry of Livestock Development, aims to vaccinate at least 10,000 dogs in the first phase.

The press release was signed by Halima Sani Gadanya, Director of Public Enlightenment at the Kano State Ministry of Livestock Development.

The Honourable Commissioner for Livestock Development, Aliyu Isah Aliyu, will oversee the exercise.

Rabies is a viral disease that affects both animals and humans and is most commonly transmitted through dog bites.

Health experts warn that once clinical symptoms appear, the disease is almost always fatal, making prevention through mass vaccination the most effective control strategy.

Speaking on the initiative, Dr Aliyu described the programme as a critical intervention to safeguard public health and improve animal welfare in Kano State.

He stressed the ministry’s determination to work closely with relevant stakeholders to ensure successful implementation.

Tribune

Non-Nigerian Media

Wunmi Mosaku on Sinners and being nominated for an Oscar:

When Wunmi Mosaku arrived at Rada aged 18, she expected to study Shakespeare. “Instead, they gave us a year’s membership to London Zoo and sent us off to look at the animals so we could pretend to be them,” she says, still sounding perplexed more than 20 years later. “I thought, ‘What am I doing? I cannot be getting into debt for this.’ I’m from a family of academics; I want some hard facts.”

She “didn’t really enjoy” drama school. “I found it very difficult. It was my first time away from home, everyone mimicked my Manchester accent, I was the only black girl in my year and I didn’t get any parts. It felt isolating. I spent all my student loan on going home every weekend in my first year.”

Thankfully, things improved. Mosaku, 39, has just been nominated for an Oscar for her role in the refreshingly original southern gothic vampire film Sinners. Born in Nigeria and brought up in Manchester, she started her career in British TV — she played the straightforward detective Catherine Halliday in Luther and won a Bafta for her poignant performance as Damilola Taylor’s mother, Gloria, in Damilola, Our Loved Boy in 2016. She moved to Los Angeles in 2018 when she met her husband, who is African-American, and has gone back and forth for work.

The Times

Tolu Coker opened London Fashion Week:

The King appeared at London Fashion Week on Thursday, hours after the announcement of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest.

Amid applause from the audience inside — and a heavy police presence outside — the King took his seat at the British-Nigerian designer Tolu Coker’s show next to Stella McCartney and the chief executive of the British Fashion Council, Laura Weir.

These front row benches are used to accommodating royalty of a sort, but this was a VIP of rather different magnitude — the King was provided with a special chair and silk cushion instead. Queen Elizabeth was the first monarch to attend a fashion week show in 2018 when she sat on the front row at Richard Quinn.

Coker, 32, was previously a recipient of funding from the Prince’s Trust. The King’s attendance was part of his focus on homegrown and sustainable craftsmanship: Coker works with remaindered deadstock fabric and low-chemical dyes.

Her autumn 2026 collection, which was rather appositely named Survivor’s Remorse, was inspired by her childhood in Notting Hill — its community, carnivals and culture. The catwalk space was decorated as a mock street scene, complete with murals, lampposts and a London Underground roundel.

The Times

And staying with Nigerian fashion:

The soundbite went viral before the full track had been released. “I’m gonna marry a Nigerian and you’re gonna wear gele to my wedding,” goes the line from Keys the Prince, a British-Nigerian rapper and producer. For the past few months, it has been used on TikTok to accompany videos of women, Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike, getting cinched into flamboyant outfits, complete with a perfectly pleated gele, or headtie.

Nigeria’s population is among the most fashion-forward in Africa. Its 230m people may spend as much as $6bn a year on apparel (mostly imports), according to one investment firm. For a long time, local styles did not travel beyond the country’s shores. But thanks to its large and growing diaspora, Nigerian fashion has lately begun to spread around the world. Pop-up events in cities such as London and Houston, the appearance of Nigerian brands in the world’s biggest department stores and the burgeoning international interest in the fashion scene in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, are all putting Nigerian styles on the map.

In one sense, Nigerian fashion has always been global. For centuries local artisans imported foreign techniques and materials and fused them with their own work. The colonial era brought British-mediated imports of silky threads used in woven fabrics like aso oke (pronounced “asho-okay”) by the Yoruba people in the south-west. Akwete, another woven fabric made by the Igbo people in the south-east, shows signs of Indian influences. The damask used in women’s headties was originally Austrian (the priciest fabric still is). Delicate lace was usually French and Swiss, or more recently Chinese and Korean. But in the past few years the direction of travel has shifted. From beadwork by southern coastal communities to adire, cotton that is resistance-dyed with cassava starch and indigo by the Yorubas, Nigerian techniques and textiles are finding new markets in unlikely corners of the world.

The Economist

News reaching us from Grenada:

Citizens of the United States of America were in the first 5 positions of people who gained Grenada citizenship in the last quarter of 2025, according to data released by the Investment Migration Agency (IMA).

The data shows that 2025 was the first time since 2021 that Grenada approved less than 1,200 new citizens through the citizenship by investment programme (CBI). In 2024, there were 5,443; in 2023, there were 4,794, and in 2022, there were 1,396.

In his presentation of the 2026 budget statement, Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall said that in 2025, the IMA delivered another strong and credible performance, reaffirming the CBI Programme as a major driver of foreign investment and fiscal stability.

[…]

While citizens of the USA rank 4th, the top positions for CBI citizenship are held by citizens of Nigeria and China, with Iraq in 3rd and Pakistan in 5th.

NOW Grenada

Black Book 2 is coming. If Editi does not change it to Blackest Book, I’m not even going to watch it:

Nicholas Weinstock, the Emmy-nominated producer of Severance, is on board to produce The Black Book 2 – Old Scores, the sequel to Editi Effiong’s 2023 Nigerian revenge thriller that smashed records worldwide.

The original Black Book, made for just $1 million, hit no. 3 on Netflix‘s global charts in 2023, ranking in the top 10 in more than 69 countries and racking up more than 20 million views worldwide. It stars Richard Mofe-Damijo as Paul Edima, a former hitman and deacon, who takes revenge after his son is framed and killed by a corrupt police unit.

Weinstock’s Invention Studios is producing The Black Book 2 along with Effiong’s Anakle Films. Effiong returns as writer and director on the sequel. The feature picks up where Black Book ended, with Paul Edima continuing his assault on the corrupt system. A blurb for the film says the second installment will “delve deeper…into themes of justice, redemption, and societal unrest in contemporary Nigeria.”

“The Black Book showed us that local stories can spark global conversations,” said Effiong, in a statement. “With Old Scores, we’re not just continuing a story, we’re continuing a movement — one that affirms the power of African voices to shape cinema worldwide.”

“What Editi’s created with The Black Book is unique in its power: not just a great action film but a film franchise of extraordinary skill, ambition, and worldwide commercial appeal,” added Weinstock. “It’s a phenomenal time for African and international creators to be delivering work at the quality level of traditional Hollywood and actually beyond – and to be stunning global audiences with sheer imagination and excellence. And there’s no better example of that than Old Scores and its game-changing potential.”

The Hollywood Reporter

A story we previously covered in BTH - 98 has now reached the extradition stage:

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Afeez Olatunji Adewale, 26, was extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face charges related to the sexual extortion and death of a young man in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Adewale is charged by indictment with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. He appeared in federal court in Philadelphia before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynne A. Sitarski yesterday.

Adewale was arrested in Nigeria on August 17, 2023, as part of a wider operation with the FBI to apprehend sexual extortionists targeting minors in the United States. He was extradited to the United States on Friday, February 13, 2026, with the assistance of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Legal Attaché in Abuja, and the FBI, who took him into custody. The support and assistance of Nigerian security authorities was essential to this effort, notably that of Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Justice’s International Criminal Justice Cooperation Department, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

United States Attorney’s Office

Meanwhile, oin Australia, news of a “Trump-style” list has leaked:

The Liberal Party has proposed banning immigrants from terror-controlled regions in 13 countries, including Egypt, Palestine and the Philippines.

The proposed policy could result in up to 37 regions under the control of 15 listed terror organisations being designated.

This could include regions in Afghanistan, Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, Gaza, Somalia and Yemen.

The policy was prepared under former opposition leader Sussan Ley, shadow immigration minister Paul Scarr and shadow home affairs minister Jonno Duniam.

Sky News Australia

No one seems to know what it was they were mining:

A toxic gas leak at a mine in north-central Nigeria killed 37 people and led to the hospitalization of 26 others, according to police.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday in Kampani Zurak community, located in the Wase area of Plateau state, police spokesman Alfred Alabo said in a statement.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the miners were affected due to a sudden discharge of lead oxide and other associated gases like sulphur and carbon monoxide which are toxic and poisonous to humans, particularly in a confined or poorly ventilated environment,” he said. “The corpses of the deceased victims have been released to their families for burial according to their religious practices.”

The Nigerian government has closed the mining site and an investigation into the leak is underway.

The miners were unaware of the toxic nature of the emissions and continued their operations, Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake said in a statement.

It’s not clear what was being mined at the site and whether the mine was operating legally. Nigeria is trying to rein in illegal gold mining operations across the country that have killed hundreds of people over the years.

AP News

From the warfront in Ukraine:

The bodies of two Nigerians fighting for Russia have been found in eastern Ukraine, the country’s authorities said Thursday.

Hamzat Kazeen Kolawole and Mbah Stephen Udoka both served in the 423rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, according to a statement from the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine.

It said the deceased men signed their contracts with the Russian military in the second half of 2025 — Kolawole on Aug. 29 and Udoka on Sept. 28.

Neither man received any military training. Kolawole is survived by a wife and three children in the West African country.

The bodies were found Luhansk, an area in the Donbas region of the eastern part of Ukraine.

“Both Nigerians were killed in late November during an attempt to storm Ukrainian positions in the Luhansk region. They never engaged in a firefight — the mercenaries were eliminated by a drone strike,” the intelligence organization said.

Washington Post

Adeleke Adelani has received an additional 9 year sentence on top of the 7 year one he was already serving:

Adelani had been due to stand trial in November 2025 but pleaded guilty before a jury was selected.

In a victim impact statement, which the woman had read to the court during proceedings, she said: “I have forgiven the defendant. The forgiveness does not mean what he did was acceptable. It means I refuse to let what he did continue to control my heart and my life.”

She added: “When he wrongfully imprisoned me and caused the termination of my nine-week pregnancy, he took far more than my freedom.

“He took my child. He took my sense of safety. He took a future that I had already begun to plan and love.”

The court was told the woman had become pregnant by Adelani in 2019 but they both decided to terminate the pregnancy.

She became pregnant again in 2020 and had decided to keep the baby, the court was told.

Adelani had invited the woman to his home in Donegal on Valentine’s Day 2020, the court heard, under the belief that he too wanted to keep the baby.

The court heard that after they spoke face-to-face, he forced her to take tablets normally prescribed by medical professionals in a controlled environment.

The court was told Adelani told her that he would beat her nine-week-old foetus out of her if she did not take the abortion tablets.

After forcing her to swallow the tablets, Adelani left to buy a pregnancy test, the court heard.

The woman, who Adelani had met on Snapchat, then phoned gardaí (Irish police) and officers arrived at the house at 14:20 on 14 February 2020.

Adelani was arrested at the scene and his phone was seized. It remained locked for four years, as he would not provide the pin.

BBC

Enjoy the week’s selection below.

Nigerian Media

A story that left me astonished. Wells claiming lives in Kano. Everything is connected - if you are constantly defaulting to sub-optimal solutions and postponing the hard yards, you will always get stuff like this:

Findings by Weekend Trust show that between June 2024 and February 2026, no fewer than a dozen, many of them children and young adults, lost their lives in separate well-related accidents across nine local government areas of the state.

From Nasarawa to Danbatta, Dawakin Tofa to Gwale, the pattern is disturbingly similar: an uncovered or poorly secured well, a fall, sometimes accidental, sometimes during an attempted rescue and a desperate race against time that often ends in death.

One of the earliest recorded incidents within the period occurred on June 4, 2024, in Kawon, Alhaji Sani area of Nasarawa Local Government Area.

A 33-year-old man identified as Muhd Sagir reportedly fell into a dry well. Reports at the time noted that operatives of the Kano State Fire Service responded swiftly after receiving a distress call of the incident. Sagir was pulled out of the well unconscious and rushed for medical attention but was later confirmed dead.

The tragedy underscored the dangers posed, not only by water-filled wells but also by abandoned or dry wells left uncovered in residential areas.

In early November 2025, two families were thrown into mourning within 24 hours as two children died in separate well accidents. In Kashirmo village, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, an eight-year-old girl, identified as Zara’u Muhammad, reportedly slipped and fell into a deep well. Residents and local responders attempted rescuing her, but she was later confirmed dead.

Barely hours later, another tragedy struck in Dala Local Government Area, where a six-year-old boy fell into a well. He was rescued unconscious but did not survive.

Daily Trust

In Edo, pineapple has last out to palm oil:

Two weeks ago, more than 400 pineapple growers in the Aduhanhan community of Uhunmwonde Local Government Area protested against Edo State’s purported intention to take over their farms in order to make way for an investment in palm oil.

Weekend Trust reported that the chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Edo State, Alhaji Bako Dogwo, alongside leaders of other organisations, spearheaded the farmers’ protest on behalf of the Aduhanhan Taungya Farmers Association.

Speaking to reporters, Alhaji Dogwo said the farmers had been cultivating the land for over 60 years, and that the proposed eviction went against all levels of government’s efforts to combat food insecurity.

He said that when the government gave the community the forest reserves, they were required to grow only food crops – cassava, yams, maize, pineapple, etc – rather than cash crops.

Noting that Nigeria is the continent’s top producer of pineapple and the seventh in the world, Dogwo clarified that the ranking was attained because Edo State is the country’s top producer.

“If the plan to illegally evict the over 400 farmers from over 10 communities from the land is possible, it would amount to land grabbing, injustice, oppression of farmers and governments’ lip service to agriculture.

Daily Trust

From Osun to Luxembourg? Anything can happen I suppose:

The Osun state Police Command has arrested a travel agent for allegedly defrauding two clients of N3.6 million under the pretext of securing Luxembourg visas.

This is contained in a statement by DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, the spokesperson for the command, in Osogbo on Thursday.

Ojelabi said in January 2025, the two victims were introduced by one of their friends to the suspect, who presented himself as a travel agent.

He said the victims thereafter gave the suspect the sum of N3.6 million to help them process visas and tickets to travel to Luxembourg in Europe

“Instead of processing the visas for them, the suspect absconded with their money.

“In the course of investigation, it was discovered that the suspect had also duped other victims to the tune of N4.8 million, totalling the sum of N8.4 million collected by the suspect from his victims.

Punch

The Paraga Lobby fought back really hard (with all sorts of wild claims about jobs and investment) and now seem to have won the fight against sachet alcohol. They are now raising their ambition by calling for the head of NAFDAC’s leadership:

The Coalition for Nigerian Change Movement has called for the immediate removal of the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, over alleged abuse of public office and unlawful enforcement actions.

Addressing journalists at a press conference in Abuja, the coalition’s leader, Comrade Ogo Lincoln Otekevwe, accused the NAFDAC boss of enforcing an “arbitrary and illegal” ban on sachet alcohol and 200ml PET bottle alcoholic products in defiance of existing directives.

The group argued that the agency’s action contradicts the National Alcohol Policy approved by the Federal Ministry of Health and a presidential directive restraining NAFDAC from disrupting the operations of affected companies pending the outcome of a joint committee’s review.

According to the coalition, the enforcement also runs contrary to a resolution of the House of Representatives referenced as NAS/10/HR/CT.33/77c of March 14, 2024, which reportedly restrained NAFDAC from implementing the ban after a public hearing with key stakeholders and described the move as anti-people.

Otekevwe said the situation has created confusion among industry operators who are faced with conflicting directives from different arms of government.

Guardian

A very strange story. My initial thought was an old undetonated bomb from the Civil War but that does not appear to be in consideration. There is a photo of the device in the article:

Residents of Ogbor Hill, Aba, Abia State, have been gripped by fear and confusion, following conflicting accounts over the alleged discovery of an explosive device at the United Evangelical Church, Ehere/Umuola.

The controversy erupted after eyewitnesses said a bomb was unearthed on January 30, 2026, while labourers were excavating a foundation for a new perimeter fence, following a government directive for the church to set back its structure due to road expansion.

However, the Abia State Police Command swiftly denied the claim. In a statement, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Maureen Chinaka, said no explosive was recovered at the church.

“I can authoritatively confirm that no bomb or explosive was recovered from the said area,” the statement read, adding that what was removed by soldiers was merely an iron rod from a church pillar during compliance with road construction directives.

But the church has strongly countered the police narrative, insisting that the incident was not a ruse.

When Vanguard visited the church, the Associate Pastor, Eleazar Onyenweaku, insisted that an explosive device was indeed exhumed and evacuated by the Army.

He expressed shock that the police dismissed the incident without initially visiting the church.

Vanguard

An ethical kidnapper?

A man accused of kidnapping four-year-old Muhammad Haruna in Kano has admitted that he carried out the crime to secure N100,000 to pay his debts.

The suspect, Aminu Tukur, who is still in the custody of the DSS, insisted that he acted alone and without influence from anyone else.

“I alone did what I did because I needed money to pay my N100,000 debt, although I requested for N15 million ransom, but I told myself that if they didn’t pay I would return the boy home without hurting him,” he said.

He explained that he went to the boy’s home in Minjibir Local Government Area under the pretext of measuring him for new clothes, and that was how he kidnapped him.

“I used my relationship with his father to go to the house to get the boy and I took him to my sister house, convincing her that his mother is sick and has gone to hospital. That was how I kept him for four days with me,” he added.

The boy’s father, Haruna Hamza, expressed relief and gratitude to the DSS for rescuing his son just four days after the abduction.

According to him, “I received my son who was rescued by the DSS on 12th February 2026 after being kidnapped and he is in good health.”

Daily Post

EFCC continues to defend the Naira’s honour:

A federal high court in Kano has sentenced Saadatu Mohammed Inuwa, the Kannywood actress popularly known as Samha Inuwa, to six months in prison for abusing the naira notes.

S.M. Shuaibu, the judge, delivered the judgment on Friday after the actress was convicted on a one-count charge of naira mutilation, an offence contrary to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act of 2007.

The charge against Inuwa stated that she tampered with a N1,000 note by soiling it with her nose in 2022.

The charge against the movie star reads: “That you Saadatu Mohammed Inuwa sometime in 2022 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court tampered with Naira currency in the sum of N1000 (One Thousand Naira) note issued by Central Bank of Nigeria by soiling same using your nose and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 21 (1) of the CBN Act. 2007”.

The defendant pleaded guilty when the charge was read to her in court.

Following her plea, Musa Isah, the prosecuting counsel, presented the facts of the case and urged the court to convict and sentence her accordingly.

The Cable

Non-Nigerian Media

I had never heard of Oreoluwa Osoba, never mind his dog Duke, before reading this article:

On TikTok and Instagram, @Ogaduke feels less like a pet account and more like a tiny family sitcom, starring one very serious dog and his very devoted dad. It’s the kind of feed you start watching for a minute and before you know it you’re twenty videos in. Behind the camera is Oreoluwa Osoba, whose videos with his dog, Duke, have become beloved for their affectionate “Nigerian dad” energy, gentle scolding and laugh-out-loud timing.

Osoba says that voice wasn’t something he ever sat down and planned. It was already there. “Duke and I have always had that bond,” he said. “I have always been a Nigerian dad with him… Growing up in Nigeria I was raised with the ‘Nigerian tone,’ the funny yet very loving and protective tone, so I guess it just grew on me naturally.” With Duke, he added, “I am an African father who just wants to love, care and protect him.”

Most of Osoba’s videos follow a familiar setup. He and Duke are usually on the couch, sitting close, the camera facing them straight on. It looks simple. Almost accidental. And then Osoba starts talking, launching into affectionate, mock-serious “lectures” that feel equal parts parenting and buddy comedy routine.

In his most popular video, which has been viewed more than five million times, Osoba gently scolds Duke for eating his chicken while he was on the phone in the other room. Duke is wearing a pink collared shirt and sits very still, like he knows he’s in trouble. Osoba reminds him, with exaggerated seriousness, that he “pays the bills in this house” and is disappointed in him. Duke lowers his head. Then he places a paw on Osoba’s knee. Then, eventually, he leans in for a hug, as if offering a formal apology. In the caption, Osoba jokes that this was the moment he realized he had fully become an African dad, giving his “son” a lecture about responsibility.

Los Angeles Times

Who are the 5 women changing fashion according to the NYT?

Olivia Ozi-Oiza Chance, 32, has been fascinated by textiles since childhood, when she’d go to markets with her mother and aunts while on visits to Nigeria (her maternal grandparents live in Jos). “The process of touching fabrics and imagining what they could become made craft feel alive and immediate to me,” says Chance, who grew up in Chichester, England. She went on to study fashion design at Middlesex University in London, where she developed a labor-intensive practice that embraces both her Nigerian and British heritage, and founded her brand, Oiza, in 2022.

Lace figures prominently in Oiza’s offerings, which always include floor-scraping gowns composed of individual panels that are stitched together by hand. Several appeared in her spring 2026 collection, which she designed and developed while pregnant. For Chance, working on it was “a way of translating personal transformation into design, with emotion and instinct leading form,” and she considered the results a sort of tribute to Oshun, the Yoruba deity of fertility and love. One of the lace dresses was an alabaster hue, and had a mock neck and hand-applied florets made out of cowrie shells. There was also a long halter top that was worn over lace pants and made from meters’ worth of pendulous tassel trim, whose movements Chance thought of as symbolizing both the unpredictability and rhythm of motherhood. For her next collection, she’ll assemble a small group of intricate couture pieces.

New York Times

Love is in the air in Kano, just in time for Valentine’s:

Aisha adjusted her beige veil over her circular-shaped headgear as a matchmaker scrolled through rows of dozens of pictures on a computer to find a man she could be interested in as a potential match.

Many young women in northern Nigeria’s conservative Muslim city of Kano marry as early as 18.

After waiting for years for a suitor, Aisha is frustrated and has turned now to enlist the services of an online matchmaker site to find a husband of her dreams: rich and educated.

Matchmaking websites are booming in Kano, blending traditional methods with artificial intelligence.

“This is the right place to ask for help in finding a person to marry,” Aisha, using a pseudonym, told AFP inside Northern Halal Marriage online matchmaking office. ”

“”It is not every man who sees you that will express his love,” said the soft-spoken college graduate, adding online is “the best way to find true love”.

She’s trying her luck after some of her friends found their dream husbands through online matchmaking.

The five-month-old site, one of several that have sprung up in the city, has attracted 1,000 clients and garnered around 10,000 followers across social media platforms, said Jaafar Isah Shanawa, its 27-year-old CEO.

With four staff, the platform accords clients privacy by modifying their pictures using AI and changing their real names.

The concealed details are only shown to interested clients when they visit the office in person after paying a registration fees.

AFP

I don’t think it was a good idea for Remi Tinubu to go on The Free Press as pat of her US lobbying tour.:

Father Galmi recalls a child he was helping who had witnessed his father’s hands being cut off. “This boy is struggling with coming to terms with the fact that his father has no hands because he’s a Christian, and he watched his father suffer that brutal attack by this Islamic terrorist,” he told me. To speak to him, it’s clear how soul-crushing it is to witness the suffering of the victims he works with. “They are not just traumatized,” said Father Galmi. “They are broken forever.”

I asked the First Lady if she had visited any sites of Islamist atrocities to speak with survivors, and she told me she had traveled widely across Nigeria, including to Plateau State, where Christians have been displaced and massacred by Islamist Fulani militants.

There, she said, she spoke to the elders of the community, who showed up in the hundreds, she said, and gave them over $1 million to rebuild their homes.

“I told them: ‘This will be the last time. . . . Why are you killing each other? I can’t be bringing money here, and then you’re squandering it,” she said.

[…]

Tinubu, however, insists on optimism. “You know, Nigerians are quite resilient. All these communities are still springing up. They believe in the faith. And we as a government, what we are supposed to do is to give them protection, and that is what this administration is trying to do.”

Tinubu says that the president “is working day and night to secure lives.” And “they’ve done a lot.”

But, she suggested, it’s not as simple as #BringBackOurGirls. “Even those girls kidnapped during Chibok, they are still trying to rescue them,” Tinubu said, “until they learned recently that most of them fell in love with their abductors, so that’s quite difficult. You know, they refuse to come back.”

The Free Press

The Economist covers the MOWAA fiasco:

Things came to a head in November, when protesters stormed a glitzy preview event for officials and foreign guests. The intruders, echoing the oba, demanded that the museum be suspended pending an “investigation” into its provenance, funding and legality, prompting an inquiry. But the dispute goes back further.

It begins with Benin’s famous bronzes, a stunning collection of plaques and statues looted by the British and bought by museums (and private collectors) across Europe and America. On February 8th the University of Cambridge became the latest institution to say it would return its collection of bronzes to Nigeria as part of a global drive for restitution. In 2018 Godwin Obaseki, then the governor of Edo state, which includes Benin City, announced plans for a new museum that could house them. That undercut the argument, made by opponents of returning the bronzes, that Nigeria has nowhere to keep them safe and on view for locals.

Yet not everyone was happy. In 2021 Ewuare II, the current oba, accused the team behind the project of attempting to hijack the restitution process. He was particularly exercised by the museum’s new name, which he believed severed the link between the bronzes and the palace. “It started as the Benin Royal Museum, not MOWAA—that is the foundation of the argument,” says his spokesman. In 2023 Muhammadu Buhari, then Nigeria’s president, declared the oba “the original owner and custodian of the culture, heritage and tradition of the people of Benin kingdom”. Any returning bronzes were to be handed to him rather than the government.

The Economist

Nigerians are choosing chatbots for therapy, so says The Guardian:

On a quiet evening in her Abuja hotel, Joy Adeboye, 23, sits on her bed clutching her phone, her mind racing and chest tightening. On her screen is yet another abusive message from her stalker – a man she had met nine months earlier at her church.

He had asked Adeboye out; when she declined, he began sending her intimidating, insulting and blackmailing messages on social media, as well as spreading false information about her online. There were even death threats.

The experience is taking its toll on her mental health, leaving her struggling to cope. Family and friends she confided in did not take it seriously, and she cannot afford in-person therapy or counselling. As the feeling of panic rose at the sight of his words, she turns to an alternative: a WhatsApp chatbot called Chat Kemi.

“Good evening, Resilient Joy,” the bot types. “How are you today?”
Adeboye hesitates, then starts typing: “Someone is defaming me online and threatening to kill me, because I refused to date him. I am depressed and confused. What should I do?”

The chatbot, which Adeboye had heard about at an event on gender-based violence run by an NGO, advises her to deactivate her social media accounts and provide all necessary information about the person making the threats to someone she trusts.

For the first time in months, Adeboye says, she felt less alone.

Guardian

Who is Tolu Coker?

Rather than present her spring/summer 2026 collection on the runway, the British-Nigerian designer Tolu Coker made a short film. Codirected with her brother, Ade Coker, Unfinished Business sees Naomi Campbell and a cast of upcoming Black models quietly inhabiting a bedroom full of wooden toys and family photographs. The soundtrack is a recording of an intimate conversation that Campbell and the Coker siblings had about childhood and motherhood. “The story we wanted to tell wasn’t a story of spectacle,” explained Coker, who has previously directed music videos. “It was about the intimacy of mundane moments, like a family video.” Outfits from her namesake label, such as a butter yellow top with a fitted bodice and a voluminous, 1950s-style skirt, are worn by both Campbell and the younger models, as if they were heirlooms being passed down.

When we spoke on a Friday afternoon, Coker’s atelier at 180 Studios, a creative hub for artists in Central London, was in full flux. The hats usually pinned on the wall behind her desk—all of her collections include sculptural headwear, from towering bowlers to dramatic takes on traditional African filas—were en route to red carpet events and editorial shoots. Books as diverse as bell hooks’s All About Love and Issey Miyake monographs were haphazardly stacked on windowsills, beside family photos. “The British Fashion Awards are on Monday,” explained Coker. The 32-year-old had been nominated for the Vanguard Award, and she had also designed a look for the rapper Little Simz, who was nominated for—and ultimately won—the Cultural Innovator Award. To receive it, Simz wore a Tolu Coker tailored skirt suit in houndstooth, done in forest green as a nod to their shared Nigerian heritage.

W Magazine

Access Bank bought a UK fintech:

London-based fintech Zempler Bank has been snapped up by Nigeria’s biggest bank in a deal that has slashed the firm’s valuation, City AM can reveal.

The small business lender – formerly known as Cashplus – has been acquired by The Access Bank UK with a price tag of around £3.45p per share.

The sale represents a dramatic haircut for Zempler, which netted a valuation of £80m in its 2020 fundraising round.

The raise had priced shares at just over £9, with Access’ acquisition taking a mammoth chop to the fintech’s value.

In Zempler’s latest Companies House filing for the year ending March 31 2025, the digital bank’s profit grew 58 per cent to £5.2m.

City AM

I love the way celeb stories are written. This one made me LOL:

Jennifer Meyer bared her blossoming baby bump in a casual crop top when she was seen stepping out for lunch in Beverly Hills this week.

The 48-year-old, who is the daughter of movie mogul Ron Meyer, is expecting her first child by her fiancé Geoffrey Ogunlesi, whose father is the Nigerian billionaire Adebayo Ogunlesi, known to the press in his native country as ‘The Man Who Bought Gatwick Airport.’

She already shares two teenage children with her ex-husband Tobey Maguire, whom she split from in 2016 - her daughter Ruby, 19, and son Otis, 16.

Meyer ecstatically announced her current pregnancy in mid-December, gushing on Instagram; ‘Hey baby girl, We love love love you!!’

When she was glimpsed Tuesday emerging from a gleaming black SUV for lunch in the 90210 zip code, she radiated a blissful glow.

Meyer teamed her blue crop top with a set of navy maternity sweats, accessorizing with a gleaming pair of large black sunglasses.

Daily Mail

Next week, Tobi and I start a read-along of Joe Studwell’s highly anticipated new book - How Africa Works. And on Wednesday our next podcast episode drops with a special guest. And it’s even a video episode this time!

Enjoy the week’s selection below.

Nigerian Media

A story that could have been written anytime in the last 10 or 20 years:

From fields to the market, large quantities of tomatoes produced by dry season farmers in Alau and other parts of Borno State are rotting away.

The scenario, a sad and devastating one, is what thousands of farmers in Borno State are currently experiencing. The farmers have called on the government to intervene in the situation by establishing tomato processing industries to save them from post- harvest losses as a way of coming to their aid.

Our correspondent, who went around irrigation farms in Alau, Maiduguri and Jere, reports how the situation is creating havoc, leaving a majority of the farmers in distress.

While tomato growers in Alau have suffered huge losses due to high cost of transportation, tomato farmers within Maiduguri town say they can’t get buyers or a minimum support price for their produce which continues to flood major markets across the state and beyond.

In an interview with Weekend Trust, most of these farmers said they make bountiful produce, but they continue to experience common challenges of inadequate or lack of proper storage and preservation facilities to avert waste which has become a perennial issue for tomato and vegetable farmers in the state.

Daily Trust

Interesting story from Yobe. Someone has to defend the environment. A poor country with a depleted environment is the worst of all worlds:

The Yobe State Police Command has arrested 26 suspects over alleged criminal conspiracy and illegal tree felling in Tarmuwa Local Government Area of the state.

The suspects were accused of engaging in the unauthorised cutting of trees in bushy areas of Garaji village, an activity said to be contributing to desertification in the area.

Confirming the arrests, the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Dungus Abdulkarim, told PUNCH Metro on Wednesday evening that the suspects were apprehended following a complaint from local authorities.

Abdulkarim said the arrests were made on February 2, 2026, after the suspects allegedly invaded the forest and felled a large number of trees without approval from the relevant local government officials.

“The suspects, all male residents of Damaturu Local Government Area, were arrested for unlawfully cutting down trees in violation of Yobe State laws prohibiting deforestation,” he said.

Punch

Education update:

According to a teacher, Mr. David Ogbebor: “We the teachers are going through tough times in this economy, due to the fact that our pay can hardly purchase a fraction of our needs. To worsen the situation, my school management asked for my Bank Verification Number, BVN, saying that they want to start deducting tax from the N35,000 they are paying me, which is not even up to the mandatory minimum wage of workers in the country.

“So, now, I am combining my tailoring business with the teaching job, so that I can get something substantial to cope with the demands of the economy.”

Recall that in July 2024, Nigeria’s national minimum wage was increased to N70,000 per month from the previous N30,000, following agreement between the government and labour unions to combat the rising living costs.
The new wage is for organisations with 25 employees and above.

Mrs. Lilian Osakpamwan, a former teacher, said: “I taught three subjects in a private school, and they didn’t pay me in 2024, with long hours standing. I had a passion for teaching. When it was time to pay salaries, which always comes few weeks after month end, the proprietor will rain abuses on staff.

“Lesson fees are paid in the following terms, and that is if the teacher returns. This made my love for teaching to vanished.

“I wasted my money and time to upgrade my curriculum vitae in academics, just to augment my love for teaching. I had to go get a job in an organisation that pays better.

Vanguard

If not that Nigerian sociologists have gone on strike, they would have been able to tell us why exactly Nigerian politicians like building hotels so much. I guess we will never know:

Ebonyi State Government on Friday sealed a three-star hotel, Golden Synergy Apartments and Suites, belonging to a top politician from the state, for failing to comply with urban development and physical planning regulations.

Guardian learnt that the sealed hotel belonging to the Chairman of Ezza North, Chief Moses Ogodo-Ali, is located at 4 Anikpe Street, off Udensi Road, Abakaliki

Our correspondent reported that the action was carried out by officials of the Ministry of Capital City and Urban Development, following reports that the hotel management had commenced construction of an additional multi-storey structure on the same premises without statutory approval.

Briefing journalists after the enforcement exercise, the State Commissioner for Capital City Development, Chief Sunday Elechi Inyima, disclosed that while the hotel initially received approval for its existing four-storey main building, the developers allegedly proceeded to erect another structure in clear contravention of the state’s development control laws.

Guardian

The unspeakable horror of the recent massacre (one of many) in Kwara. This part of the story really stood out to me. So many people are just sitting ducks for violence even when they can see it coming from a mile off:

A local who preferred not to be mentioned told Saturday Vanguard that the bandits who were not strangers to the community had visited Woro a few times in the past under the guise of coming to preach to members of the community, to renounce the Nigeria constitution and embrace their own ideology.

It was also gathered that early last month,the bandits reportedly wrote a letter to the village head of Woro, Alhaji Umar Saliu Tanko informing him that they were coming to preach and that he should communicate the information to the residents to assemble.

Already, the village head who had been uncomfortable with the previous sermons in the community reported the communication to the security agencies. A local government staff who craved anonymity said, “on the appointed day, soldiers and other security agents had assembled at the venue with the intention of arresting the bandits for interrogation on the toxic nature of their planned sermon.

“Expectedly, the bandits visited Woro community on the fateful day, but on sighting the security agents from afar, they retreated and from that day, they planned the invasion. It was further gathered that after this aborted meeting, the bandits sent a voice note to the village head, expressing their anger accusing him of trying to set them up for arrest by the soldiers. They then vowed to wipe out the residents of the community any time soon.
The village head reportedly went and informed the security agents of the voice note, but nothing was done to prevent the invasion as no particular date was mentioned until the Tuesday evening attack.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that over fifty bandits invaded Woro community around 5pm on Tuesday killing every resident in sight and indiscriminately setting houses, shops and offices on fire.

Vanguard

Non-Nigerian Media

A piece on the rugby legend, Martin Offiah, and his son, opened with this about his father:

My parents came over to England from Nigeria in the late 1950s, Dad to study law, Mum to study teaching. I was born in 1965, the youngest of three, in Hackney Hospital, a true Cockney. Dad was called to the Bar in 1970 but went back to Nigeria a few years later. He became a chief magistrate there, but in March 1999 he was murdered — killed by car thieves. I was devastated. I was 33 by then, playing professional rugby league for London Broncos.

The Times

What to do if you have 36hrs in Lagos. Here’s how to start on Friday evening:

After navigating the hectic Murtala Mohammed International Airport, recover in the peaceful garden of NOK by Alara, in a cube-shaped building with geometric latticework in the Victoria Island neighborhood. The restaurant, a local institution, offers a wide variety of dishes from across Nigeria: Try the whole tilapia (34,000 naira, or about $24) and grilled plantain (7,500 naira), perfectly charred on the outdoor grill. Jollof (rice cooked in a flavorsome tomato stew) is an obsessed-over regional favorite, with much discussion over which West African country is home to the best version. NOK’s jollof (10,000 naira), topped with spicy dried and shredded beef, is excellent and will quickly make the airport a faint memory.

New York Times

Western view of China in Africa:

China is encircling Africa with strategic ports that can service its warships as part of its strategy to expand its navy and military presence.

Satellite images shared exclusively with The Telegraph show how Beijing has transformed ports across the continent over the past decade – from Lekki in Nigeria to Mombasa in Kenya.

The civilian ports, which are often run by Chinese state-owned firms, are designed not just for trade but also to accommodate warships.

Defence experts warn the expansion has created a network of potential naval bases capable of landing warships near key maritime routes, such as the Suez Canal.

The ports also give Beijing access to critical materials like copper and cobalt – vital for modern technology, ranging from fighter jets to smartphones.

[…]

The deep-sea Lekki port in Lagos, Nigeria, has become one of West Africa’s largest ports thanks to £660m of Chinese investment.

Its huge docks and cranes can take the container-laden behemoths of global maritime trade, and handled more than $9bn (£7bn) of cargo in the first nine months of 2025. Images show how the site was transformed from a beach and fields into a regional mega-port in just five years.

Lekki, which began operations in 2023, is just one example. Over the past decade, China has been building, upgrading, and running ports across the continent.

Telegraph

This video about a Nigerian scammer posing as the Crown Prince of Dubai who managed to scam a woman out of $2.5m is darkly funny in a way because they were able to trace him from an Instragram post. The urge to ‘flex’ for these scammers simply cannot be resisted:

An unspeakably sad story:

In a last message to her friends, Ifunanya Nwangene wrote: “Please come.”

The 26-year-old singer and former contestant on The Voice Nigeria had been bitten by a snake while asleep in her flat in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and was in hospital, anxiously awaiting treatment.

Despite rushing to seek care, Nwangene died a few hours after being bitten, as her friend waited at a pharmacy to buy the antivenom she needed.

As the news of her death on 31 January has spread, it has sparked a fierce row over the ready availability of drugs needed to treat deadly snakebites in Nigeria’s hospitals.

Nwangene, also known by her stage name Nanyah, had appeared on The Voice Nigeria in 2021 and was preparing for her first solo concert later this year according to friends. In a tribute, her choir said she was a rising star “on the cusp of sharing her incredible talent with the world”.

Guardian

One of the more bizarre revelations from the Epstein files:

In another email the same month, which was forwarded to Epstein, Andrew discussed with banker David Stern about someone being ‘the ghost for me’ when making an investment.

He talked about the possibility of an investment in a company called The Green Park Group. Andrew asked about an unidentified person he called ‘the guru’, writing: ‘I know you will have spoken to the guru…it might be that he and you are the Ghost for me in the upside of this entity.’

Mr Stern, a Hong Kong investor with ties to Epstein who became a director of Andrew’s Pitch@Palace initiative, wrote to Epstein in September 2010 describing Prince Andrew’s latest financial wheeze.

His email read: ‘PA has asked me to see a guy who has access to Nigeria oil and when selling it to China (or somebody else) F [Sarah Ferguson] can make around $6m.’

Even Mr Stern said: ‘This seems very fishy.’

Daily Mail

A very sad story:

A criminal prosecution could be launched over the death of a boy, 17, who died on a school trip after getting into difficult in the sea, an inquest has heard.

Samuel Oluwagbenga was on a school trip from Uxbridge College to the seaside village of West Wittering, West Sussex, in July 2024.

At around lunchtime, Samuel was spotted struggling to swim and lifeguards raced to save him.

He was pulled from the water and airlifted to St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester where he sadly died soon afterwards.

Today, Samuel’s family were told at an inquest hearing that an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) could result in a criminal prosecution.

They were told the timing of the full inquest into his death would depend on the outcome of the investigation.

The court heard if the HSE decides to take enforcement action then there maybe a delay.

Penelope Schofield, coroner for West Sussex, said: ‘Much will depend on whether there’s a prosecution and what the prosecution is for.’

Samuel, who was born in Nigeria, had only been in the UK for a year but had adapted quickly.

In an interview after the tragedy his mother, Taiwo, said her son was adapting to life in the UK and was making friends at school.

He was attending church every weekend and had become a five-a-side football coach in his spare time.

Daily Mail

News from India:

The Gurugram police arrested two Nigerians for allegedly extorting money from the employees of a company by posing as fake directors of the company. Two mobile phones and three SIM cards were recovered from their possession.

On January 31, during technical analysis by the team of Cyber Crime East Police Station, information was received about a suspicious mobile number. The police traced the mobile number and arrested two accused from Nathupur village area on January 31.

The arrested accused were identified as Nigerian nationals Ojo Uyiosa and James. They were produced in a city court on Monday and the police have taken them for three days remand for questioning.

“During interrogation, the main accused Ojo Uyiosa revealed that he came to India on a student visa in 2014. The accused James came to India on a tourist visa in 2023. Together, they posed as directors of a fake company, gained the trust of employees, and defrauded them by transferring money. Police found the accused had defrauded them of approximately Rs 10 lakh and transferred it to a Bandhan Bank account. Two cyber fraud complaints had already been filed against that account. A further probe is underway”, said a spokesperson of the Gurugram police.

Tribune

A very nice review of a movie that is a getting a lot of rave reviews - My Father’s Shadow:

One of the most powerful and original aspects of “My Father’s Shadow” is the richness of its context: the civic and social setting isn’t just a backdrop but an integral part of the drama, not explanatory but constitutive. At one point, the bus runs out of gas. Most of the passengers are content to wait for the driver to figure things out, but Folarin persuades a passing truck driver to take him and his sons the rest of the way. The boys don’t know Lagos at all, and Folarin, who grew up there, introduces them to the city proudly. The brothers gaze upon commonplace sights of crowds, peddlers, and buskers with fascination and wonder. But they also catch their father’s wariness when trucks filled with soldiers pass by. “Stupid people,” he says. It’s the first time that the regime’s enforcers make their presence felt but not the last, and even when they’re not in sight the menace that they represent weighs heavily on the story. It hangs over the boys’ experience of Lagos, both in their silent observation of distant events and in closeup encounters with their father’s friends and associates.

Most of the movie takes place in the span of a single day, and two clocks, political and personal, seem to be ticking out of synch, urgently and discordantly. Folarin’s political engagement emerges by chance when he runs into a long-unseen friend (Olarotimi Fakunle), whose nickname, Corridor, reflects his size and his ability to open paths through crowds. Corridor, who addresses Folarin as Kapo and “my leader,” is pessimistic about the chances for democracy. He thinks the regime is digging in and says that it has killed four of their fellow opposition supporters. The boys soon see another headline—“Military Deny Deaths at Bonny Camp”—and, when a fight breaks out in the street, Folarin hustles them away.

New Yorker

Look out for Chapter 1 of The Whispering Class dropping on Monday.

Enjoy the usual selection below

Nigerian Media

The Nigerian football league is witnessing the rise of female referees. This article profiles a few of them:

Alongside established names, a growing number of emerging female referees are gradually building their profiles. Officials such as Oluwatosin Omotoye, Olufunmilayo Abigael Alaba amongst others have appeared on recent FIFA and national referees lists, officiating in domestic leagues and regional competitions.

Although many are still in the early stages of their elite careers, their inclusion signals a deliberate effort to broaden the talent base and ensure continuity. These referees benefit from increased visibility, structured training programmes and mentorship from senior officials who have already navigated the path.

The collective impact of these women has transformed refereeing in Nigerian football. From Olympic appearances and continental finals to domestic showpieces and administrative leadership, female referees are no longer exceptions but key contributors to the game’s integrity and professionalism.

While challenges remain, particularly in terms of societal perceptions and limited grassroots access, the progress achieved so far is significant. With pioneers, administrators and emerging talents working across all levels, Nigerian football now has a sustainable pipeline of female referees whose influence will shape the sport for generations to come.

Daily Trust

Quite an innovative way to raise money to travel to the US:

A Lagos-based couple, identified simply as Fred and Goodness, have been arrested for allegedly staging their own kidnap and extorting N10m in ransom from their families and friends.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the couple faked the abduction on January 7 to solicit funds for the husband, who intended to return to the United States due to a lack of financial support.

A police source who spoke to our correspondent on Thursday said the suspects contacted relatives on both sides of the family and claimed they had been kidnapped while demanding ransom.

The source added that the families raised N10m within three days, believing the money was meant to secure their release.

“The couple faked their kidnapping, thereby calling on friends and families for contributions towards the ransom payment. And what happened was, according to them, the husband wanted to travel back to the US, and he needed some money, but their sponsors were not forthcoming, so they planned it together that maybe by the time they do that, they’ll be able to raise some money.”

Speaking on their arrest, another police source in the command said the couple arranged a location at a school in Cappa in the Mushin area of Lagos, where the ransom was to be delivered.

“Operatives monitoring the area noticed the woman entering the premises alone, while the man arrived separately moments later. However, suspicion was raised when both suspects later emerged together carrying a bag.

Punch

The headline of this story is “Pastor in police net for hiring cultist to kill rival in Bayelsa” :

Operatives of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit of the Bayelsa State Police Command have arrested one Pastor Elijah Oro over a plot to kill a rival pastor in the state.

According to the police, Pastor Oro allegedly hired one Samuel Daniel, a 21-year-old member of a notorious cult group, to execute his rival over a reported issue of membership drive and property.

In a statement, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Musa Mohammed, said, “On 28th January, 2026, at about 1035 hours, operatives attached to the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit, acting on credible intelligence, swung into action and arrested two suspects, namely Samuel Daniel ‘m’, 21 years old, from Nembe Ogbolomabiri Community, Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, and Pastor Elijah Oro ‘m’, 59 years old, from Ozoro Community, Delta State, both involved in an alleged plot to kill the prophet named [withheld].”

“Preliminary investigation revealed that one of the suspects, Samuel Daniel ‘m’, 21 years, was arrested in the premises of the prophet and had confessed to being a member of the Greenlanders Confraternity. He was allegedly hired by Pastor Elijah Oro ‘m’ to assassinate the prophet (name withheld). Investigation is ongoing to unravel the motive behind the alleged plot.

Guardian

The article does not say what the intended use was but I’m almost certain it was for some mining operation. Wildcat miners are doing untold damage to the environment in the name of getting lithium or whatever else out of rocks:

The Oyo State Police Command has intercepted a truck conveying materials suspected to be explosives in the Sango area of Ibadan, the state capital.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ayanlade Olayinka, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the truck was intercepted during a stop-and-search operation based on an intelligence tip-off.

He said the driver of the truck and 42 suspected explosive materials were taken into custody. Olayinka added that the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Femi Haruna, has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the incident.

According to him, specialised personnel from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), unit and the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN), unit have been deployed to secure the items and conduct forensic examinations.

He noted that detailed forensic analysis is ongoing to determine the exact nature of the materials and their intended use. The police spokesperson assured residents that there was no cause for panic, adding that further updates would be provided as investigations continue.

Vanguard

Likewise this story about chemicals from Zamfara which are almost certainly about illegal gold mining. The thing with stuff like this is the natural resources being mined might one day lose value but you will be left with the damaged environment anyway:

The Zamfara State Police Command has intercepted about 2,500 litres of suspected poisonous chemical substances in the Lalan area of the Gusau Local Government Area of the state.

The latest seizure came less than 24 hours after the command intercepted a vehicle conveying 954 explosive devices believed to have been intended for use by bandits in the state.

Announcing the recovery in a statement made available to PUNCH Metro on Thursday, the command’s spokesperson, Yazid Abubakar, said the chemicals were recovered in 100 jerricans, each containing 25 litres.

Abubakar said the interception was part of ongoing efforts by the police to curb the circulation of materials capable of endangering lives and property in the state.

“In furtherance of ongoing efforts to secure Zamfara State against the proliferation of items capable of endangering lives and property, the Zamfara State Police Command has recorded a significant operational success,” the statement read.

Punch

I believe N3m is the highest price I’ve come across in the years I’ve been monitoring the Nigerian baby market:

The Nigerian Army, in collaboration with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons NAPTIP, has arrested seven persons over their alleged involvement in an attempt to sell a day old baby in Calabar, Cross River State.

The suspects were apprehended during an intelligence led operation carried out by troops of the Headquarters 13 Brigade, Nigerian Army, in the state capital.

According to the Army, the operation was triggered by credible intelligence on the activities of a suspected human trafficking network operating within the area. Acting on the information, troops conducted a coordinated raid on Glorious Amazing Grace Hospital in the Ikot Ekpo axis of Calabar.

The Army disclosed that the suspects were arrested while negotiating the sale of a day old baby boy for the sum of three million naira.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, Headquarters 13 Brigade, Major Yemi Sokoya, the Army described the act as a grave violation of the law and a serious breach of fundamental human rights.

“The suspects were apprehended during an ongoing negotiation to sell a day old baby boy for the sum of three million naira. The operation followed detailed and credible intelligence on the activities of a suspected human trafficking syndicate operating within Calabar Municipality,” the statement said.

Vanguard

I don’t know why this part from a story warning people not to try to bribe their way to become Awujale made me laugh so much:

He also clarified reports that aspirants were required to pay N10 million, explaining that while the idea of contributions was initially discussed to address logistics, it was later abandoned and all funds already paid were refunded.

“Every person who paid was refunded. It was never a condition for participation,” he stated.

While condemning bribery and inducement in the selection process, Ogidan said culturally acceptable gestures should not be confused with attempts to manipulate the process, stressing that any gift intended to influence the outcome would not be tolerated.

“We frown at bribery and inducement. But in our culture, it is not unusual for someone to visit an elder with a gift. What we reject is anything meant to influence the process.”

Tribune

We also cover a lot of fake things here and this is one of the biggest ones so far in terms of size of the fakeness:

The Kano State Police Command has arrested three suspects in connection with the alleged purchase of a luxury vehicle using a fake bank alert. This followed intelligence-led operations by its Special Intervention Squad (SIS).
The suspects, Ibrahim Tijjani, Jamilu Auwal, and Mohammed Nura Dauda, were arrested on January 28, 2026, at Kabuga Quarters in Kano, after a tip-off, police authorities said.

According to the police, the suspects allegedly bought a white Mercedes-Benz GLE from Gwarinpa, Abuja, for ₦75 million using a fake transfer alert. The fake alert was reportedly sent by one Ibrahim Yahaya, who is currently at large.

The development was disclosed in a press release issued on January 30, 2026, by the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Kano State Command.

Daily Post

Non-Nigerian Media

Nigeria is so back?

Nearly three years on, Nigeria’s 230m people, especially the poor and the middle class, are still reeling from increases in fuel and food prices. Poverty has risen. But it looks as though Mr Tinubu’s bitter medicine is helping. The annual inflation rate, which hit a nearly 30-year high of 34.8% in December 2024, fell to 15.2% in December 2025. Growth is returning. The IMF expects the economy to expand by 4.4% in 2026. Following two steep devaluations in 2023, the naira has stabilised (see chart). The central bank’s foreign-exchange reserves have risen to $46bn, their highest level in seven years.

Improvements in macroeconomic stability are restoring investor confidence. On January 22nd Shell, a British company, said it hopes in 2027 to finalise plans, with partners, to develop a $20bn offshore oilfield that has been sitting untapped for over 20 years. Exxon Mobil, an American firm, has committed $1.5bn to deepwater development until 2027. Local business leaders are more upbeat, too. Oil-and-gas production is rising, much of it driven by local firms plugging leaks and improving output in onshore projects in the Niger Delta, which has become safer thanks to Mr Tinubu’s focus on security there.

All this should give the government some fiscal breathing room, particularly as the cheaper naira begins to raise the competitiveness of Nigeria’s non-oil exports such as cocoa and cashew nuts. Recent reforms to taxation and tax collection, Mr Tinubu’s latest project, should help improve revenues further in the coming years. Falling inflation should eventually begin to ease the cost-of-living pain.

Economist

This story about Yewande Komolafe made me feel sad and angry all at once. Life can be so unfair:

In December 2023, I went to a hospital in New York City with flulike symptoms and the onset of a sickle cell crisis, for what I thought would be a routine stay. But I did not receive the care I needed, and the results were catastrophic. My memory of this time exists only in text messages I sent to family and close friends: “I’m still in so much pain.”

On the afternoon of Jan. 11, 2024, I woke up from a six-week-long coma, in a different hospital, not knowing how I’d gotten there. This was followed by six more weeks of high fevers and a fog of confusion. A breathing tube had been inserted into my throat. I could only mouth what I felt — a horrendous amount of pain — adding another layer of trauma.

It was a few weeks more before I could turn my neck sideways to take in the hospital room beyond its patterned ceiling. The room was bright, sunlight filtering in through large windows along my bed. Friendly nurses spoke to me in loud, high-pitched voices, and stoic doctors rattled off my circumstances in their detailed, matter-of-fact way.

I was able to recognize my mother, who had flown in from Nigeria, where I was raised, to spend nights with me, and my husband and younger brother, who would visit during the mornings and afternoons. My constant and singular thought during that time was this: If they could see me, then I was safe.

In a meeting with family and medical staff in early March 2024, I learned that both my legs would not survive, and neither would my fingers. Several amputations were scheduled, and, after seven months in the hospital, I would be sent home as a bilateral below-the-knee and digital amputee, navigating the world in an electric wheelchair. I’d later be fitted with prosthetic hands and legs.

New York Times

William Foege, who helped eradicate smallpox, has died at 89:

When civil war broke out in Nigeria, pitting secessionists in the east against the federal government in Lagos, Dr. Foege’s family was evacuated. But Dr. Foege, having rejoined the C.D.C., stayed behind in the eastern region to lead the effort to stamp out smallpox there. It was dangerous work: He was constantly encountering roadblocks, often maintained by armed teenage rebels, who, he later wrote, “mixed guns, alcohol and bravado.”

When officials in Lagos cut off vaccine supplies to the east, threatening the success of his program, Dr. Foege was defiant, and undeterred. He and one of his C.D.C. team members hopped in his white Dodge pickup truck and drove 350 miles, across a bridge over the Niger River and into the capital city to raid a government warehouse.

While his C.D.C. colleague distracted a security guard, Dr. Foege loaded up the truck with stolen vaccine, cold packs, jet injector parts and other supplies. He drove back, terrified of being caught — only to run into a wall of trucks and bulldozers blocking the bridge at the river’s western edge, cutting off his passage back to safety. He fast-talked his way through in a meeting with the rebel leader.

“I explained that we had just stolen vaccine from the federal government, and he was happy about that,” Dr. Foege recalled in an interview with The New York Times in 2023. “He cleared a path for us, and when we got across the bridge, we could breathe a sigh of relief.”

By the summer of 1967, smallpox had been eradicated in eastern Nigeria, and Dr. Foege reported the results at a C.D.C. meeting in Ghana. Dr. Millar and his C.D.C. specialists in Africa soon embraced the containment approach as the primary tactic for eradicating smallpox in West and Central Africa, a goal that was achieved in the spring of 1970.

New York Times

I did not know how much demolition has been going on in Makoko. This photo essay has 20 photos:

Called the largest floating slum in the world, authorities in Lagos have begun demolishing thousands of homes in Makoko, displacing families that have lived there for generations.

Reuters

A French-Nigeria Afrobeat collabo is happening:

Will the next global hits from Nigeria have a French accent? Perhaps. Nine French rap, pop and urban music composers recently joined forces with Afrobeats artists to produce 60 tracks for international audiences.

In under a week, French, English, Nigerian Pidgin and Creole blended in musical melodies for future hits at the premises of renowned Nigerian label Mavin Records in the economic and cultural hub, Lagos.

The label produces Afrobeats stars such as Rema, Ladipoe, Ayra Starr and Magixx.

“If one or two songs hit like Ayra Starr’s ‘Rush’ or Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ then we would have achieved it all,” said Akotchaye Okio, the director of international artists’ rights group Sacem, which organised the camp in collaboration with the French embassy and Mavin Records.

France24

Sorry to that country where those who can afford to stay on the grid are the ones leaving it:

Churches of all sizes and types in Nigeria are embracing solar energy to avoid power outages that disrupt their services.

Blackouts are extremely common in the West African nation because of aging infrastructure and an unreliable grid.

As BusinessDay reported, many churches across the country have installed solar panels to replace diesel generators prone to power failures. This movement involves urban megachurches, remote congregations, and everything in between.

Not only are the churches’ solar panels keeping lights on, but they’re also reducing the noise and toxic fumes caused by the gas generators. As a result, parishioners can worship with greater peace and fewer distractions.

The Cool Down

Maro Itoje lost his mother:

England will kick off their Six Nations training camp in Spain this week without their captain, Maro Itoje, who has travelled to Nigeria for his mother’s funeral. Itoje was absent from the official Six Nations championship launch in Edinburgh on Monday and is not expected to join his squad until Wednesday evening.

With the tournament commencing on Thursday week every team is scrambling to be ready, but the Saracens lock has been given permission to miss the start of the training block in Girona this week.

“He is in Nigeria for the funeral of his mother and we are all deeply saddened for him,” said Steve Borthwick, whose side open their campaign at home against Wales on Saturday week.

“When I have talked to him I sense emotionally he has found it very tough, very challenging. I also sense from him that his family all going to Nigeria for the funeral is an important aspect for him. I know he will be looking forward to rejoining us and we look forward to having him back.”

Guardian

Nigerian adoption meets Trump immigration policies:

A Missouri couple who have been in Nigeria for more than 10 months is petitioning President Donald Trump to lift visa restrictions preventing them from bringing their adopted child back to the United States to continue living as a family.

Kaylee and James Wilson told NewsNation they are no strangers to international adoptions. They adopted their first child, a daughter from Ghana, in 2016, before adding another daughter, who is deaf and unable to speak and was rescued from the streets of Nigeria in 2021.

The family of seven also includes two biological children who have remained with their parents in Nigeria since last March because of a proclamation signed by Trump on Jan. 1 prohibiting visas from being granted to adopted children from 39 foreign countries.

News Nation

What is a Jogodo?

Asake and Wizkid are making streaming history in Nigeria. Their collaborative single “Jogodo” delivered a record-breaking debut on Spotify Nigeria, earning 1.388 million streams in its first day. The release now stands as the highest single-day total ever for a duo or collaborative song on the platform in the country.

The momentum continued throughout the week, with “Jogodo” also setting a new all-time benchmark for first-week streams in Spotify Nigeria history at 6.632 million. The success extended beyond Spotify as their joint project REAL, Vol. 1 – EP dominated global charts.

The EP charted in 105 countries on Apple Music and became the first African EP to reach No. 1 on the UK Apple Albums Chart. All four tracks from REAL Vol. 1 also swept the top spots on the Apple Music Nigeria Top Songs chart.

The Source

News from Australia:

A young nurse has had her registration cancelled and struck off the register after ‘improper conduct’ during night shifts at a nursing home, including falling asleep on the job up to six times.

Chimzuruoke Okembunachi, 25, started work as a registered nurse at Hardi Aged Care (HAC) in Guildford in western Sydney in February 2024.

But after a month on the job, she was suspended and resigned from her position.

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Tuesday found Ms Okembunachi guilty of professional misconduct and ordered the cancellation of her nurse registration.

The tribunal panel heard that Ms Okembunachi had been rostered for night shifts from 13 to 27 March 2024.

On each shift, the panel noted that Ms Okembunachi was the only registered nurse supervising three or four assistants-in-nursing (AIN) and 100 elderly residents.

But, on six of these nights, she failed to discharge her duties and responsibilities as she slept while on duty.

The tribunal heard that on three occasions, the nurse failed to give a patient her regular dose of morphine because she was asleep.

[…]

Born in Nigeria, Ms Okembunachi moved to Australia in 2018 and graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing Science at University of the Sunshine Coast in 2021.

She then embarked on a graduate degree in medicine at Western Sydney University, (WSU) which she balanced with her work at HAC while suffering from migraines.

During her second degree, Ms Okembunachi had to take a leave of absence after failing the mid-year anatomy exam. She then returned to her studies in 2024.

Daily Mail

The podcast should return shortly along with a lot more essays and content.

Enjoy the week’s selection below

Nigerian Media

I cannot count the number of times over the years that tuta absoluta has damaged tomato crop in Nigeria. It is like a problem with no solution and yet it surely has a solution:

Tomato farmers in Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Plateau and other states are currently grappling with severe glut as the harvest season begins.

After the catastrophic Tuta absoluta outbreak ravaged crops and inflicted billions of naira in losses on the tomato industry, farmers now face another daunting challenge.

Our correspondents across the states report that markets are now flooded with fresh tomatoes, leading to a sharp drop in price and heavy financial losses for farmers who had invested heavily to recover from previous setbacks caused by the pest attack.

Over the past few years, infestations of Tuta absoluta, a highly damaging tomato leaf miner, have wreaked havoc on farms in northern tomato-growing regions.

These outbreaks have led to the destruction of vast areas of cultivated land, compelling numerous farmers to cease production. The disruptions have significantly impacted supply chains and driven many farmers into financial distress due to mounting debts.

In 2016, the first outbreak of Tuta absoluta devastated tomato crops in seven northern states: Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Plateau, Gombe and Nasarawa. Subsequently, it has also been detected in two additional states in the South-West region: Lagos and Oyo.

In Kano State, Malam Abba Ibrahim Kalla of Bunkure Local Government Area, told our correspondent that going back to the farm was very difficult as he had incurred a huge loss in his tomato farm last year due to the pest attack.

He added that it was with the assistance of a loan he got from his associates that he was able to return to the farm this dry season.

Tomato farmers in Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Plateau and other states are currently grappling with severe glut as the harvest season begins.

After the catastrophic Tuta absoluta outbreak ravaged crops and inflicted billions of naira in losses on the tomato industry, farmers now face another daunting challenge.

Our correspondents across the states report that markets are now flooded with fresh tomatoes, leading to a sharp drop in price and heavy financial losses for farmers who had invested heavily to recover from previous setbacks caused by the pest attack.

Daily Trust

The view of the kidnapping epidemic from the ground level:

Relief mixed with grief swept through Chacho village in Wurno Local Government Area of Sokoto State as a young bride-to-be and her bridesmaids regained freedom after spending about 49 harrowing days in the captivity of bandits.

Local sources confirmed that the victims were released only after their families painfully raised a ransom of N10 million, alongside three brand new motorcycles and other items, highlighting the heavy human and economic cost of insecurity in rural communities.

Before the abduction, Chacho village had been filled with joy as preparations for the wedding reached their peak.

However, the celebration turned into anguish barely 24 hours to the ceremony when armed bandits stormed the village under the cover of darkness, went straight to the bride’s residence and whisked her and her friends away.

A devastated family member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the incident plunged the entire community into shock and fear, as unarmed villagers were helpless in the face of heavily armed criminals.

According to the source, intelligence later revealed that the abducted bride and others were held in one of the bandits’ enclaves deep inside the Sububu Forest, which spans parts of Isa and Sabon Birni local government areas.

The vast forest, extending into Zamfara State and the Niger Republic, has long been identified as a notorious hideout for criminal gangs terrorising communities in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states.

Vanguard

The alcohol lobby are back at it again:

Members of the distillers’ association, under the aegis of the Food, Beverages and Tobacco Senior Staff Association and the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees, have warned that the enforcement being carried out by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control will displace no fewer than 5.5 million Nigerians from their jobs.

The unions, which are affiliates of the Trade Union Congress and the Nigeria Labour Congress, disclosed this on Friday when they besieged the Lagos office of NAFDAC to protest the order stopping them from distributing their products.

PUNCH Online reports that NAFDAC said it had begun enforcing the ban on the production and sale of alcohol in sachets and PET bottles below 200ml.

NAFDAC had, on November 11, 2025, announced plans to enforce a total ban on such products by December 2025, in line with a directive from the Senate.

However, enforcement was initially halted after the Federal Government, through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, called for an immediate suspension of all actions and measures related to the proposed ban, pending consultations and a final directive.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, during a media briefing on Wednesday, said the agency had received a matching order from the Senate to proceed and that enforcement had already commenced.

Speaking at the protest ground on Friday, the Executive Secretary of FOBTOB, Solomon Adebosin, said the enforcement would displace no fewer than 5.5 million direct and indirect jobs.

Punch

Trying to steal and sell mercury was a thing when I was a kid a long time ago. You always heard (but never actually saw) about some guy who found mercury somewhere and made a lot of money from selling it. I’m surprised to hear this is still a thing:

The Gombe State Police Command on Friday paraded five suspects in connection with alleged criminal conspiracy, possession of counterfeit United States currency, and substances suspected to be mercury.

The arrests, police said, followed intelligence-led operations carried out by officers attached to the Dukku Divisional Police Headquarters.

According to the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Buhari Abdullahi, four of the suspects were apprehended at about 11:00 am in Dukku town while in possession of counterfeit foreign currency.

The suspects were identified as Kabiru Abubakar, 29, of Dugge Quarters, Dukku; Abubakar Aliyu, 30, of Basirda Quarters, Dukku; Abdulrahman Mustapha, 22, of Ramin Kura, Kaduna State; and Isah Alhasan, 45, of Sheka Quarters, Kano State. Police said they were found with a total of 304 pieces of One Hundred United States Dollar ($100) counterfeit notes.

“During the course of investigation, the suspects confessed to the offence and further indicted the fourth suspect as the supplier of the counterfeit currency,” Abdullahi said.

He further disclosed that, in a related development on the same day, police operatives arrested two additional suspects at about 8:00 a.m. in possession of substances believed to be mercury.

The two suspects, identified as Muhammad Muhammad, alias Malam, 40, and Abubakar Bala, alias Boza, both from Nasarawa State, allegedly admitted during interrogation that the substance was intended for use in the production of counterfeit currency.

“They confessed that the substance suspected to be mercury was allegedly used in the production of fake currency,” Abdullahi added.

Punch

Donating a borehole and then donating a generator to power the borehole is about as meta as you can get about the Nigerian condition:

To promote proper hygiene and sanitation in markets, members of Rotary Club of Lagos Central recently provided borehole facility to trades at Sandgrouse Market on Lagos Island.

Its President, Elizabeth Ajilore said project addressed four of Rotary’s areas of focus which include, water, sanitation and hygiene, community empowerment, environmental and disease prevention. To her, clean and accessible water, is not just a convenience; it is a foundation for good health, dignity, and economic activity,especially in a busy market such as this.”

District Governor Rotary District 9112, Lanre Adedoyin stated members of Rotary Club of Lagos Central conducted needs assessment and found out that there was a challenge of clean water. So they supported with a borehole.

They also provided brand new generating set to power the borehole . Without water, there is no life. We try to create lasting impact. The project will improve their likelihood.”

Babaloja and Iyaloja of the market, Aderinto Kamarudeen and Modinot Ayinke commended them for the generous gesture and assured of proper maintenance of the facility.

Guardian

Who are the Sai Malam and why do they carry around scorpions?

The Sokoto State Police Command has arrested two suspected key members of the notorious criminal network known as the “Sai Malam,” in a major breakthrough against organised crime in the state.
The command also confirmed the arrest of several kidnapping and banditry suspects in separate operations across Yabo and Silame local government areas.

Items recovered from the two “Sai Malam” suspects include a large scorpion, two bags containing suspected counterfeit naira, dollar and CFA currencies, a POS machine, assorted white papers, perfumes, fetish materials and charms, a red scarf believed to be an identifier of the group, five animal horns, a sharp cutlass and other ritual-related objects.

The suspects were identified as Abdulrazak Salihu, also known as Monosa, of Polytechnic Quarters, and Habibu Sahabi, alias Habibi, of Rugar Woro area.

Both suspects, said to be in their twenties, were arrested at a hideout traced through actionable intelligence.

The “Sai Malam” group is described as an emerging criminal network in Sokoto and neighbouring areas, largely made up of youths involved in fetish practices linked to financial fraud, intimidation and other organised crimes.

Daily Post

An insight into what people still do to get around NYSC’s inconvenience and how some people make money from it:

Natasha Ndidi (not her real name), a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member serving in Abuja, has narrated how David Odejide, a young man she met online through her friend, stopped responding to her after she paid him N120,000 to help change her place of primary assignment (PPA).

Ndidi said she met Odejide in December during her registration process, and after he gave her assurances, she decided to trust him with her money.

One of these assurances was that he would give her a 100% refund if the process was unsuccessful.

However, after facing pressure from her local government inspector (LGI) to produce a request letter from this new intended workplace and getting no positive feedback from Odejide, Ndidi was left with no option but to resume at the location the NYSC originally assigned her to.

When she asked for a refund, Odejide stopped responding to her, and his phone number became unreachable.

Recounting the experience, Ndidi said, “I paid N120,000 to David Odejide, also known as ‘Asiwaju’, to assist me in securing an NYSC PPA reposting, with a clearly agreed deadline of Monday, December 30, 2025. Before making the payment, I was expressly assured that a 100% refund would be made if the reposting was not completed within the agreed timeframe.

FIJ

Non-Nigerian Media

News from Britain:

Twenty years ago, private schools were falling over themselves to open in China. Now the latest boom destination is Nigeria, where three prestigious British schools are opening outposts and more are rumoured.

The popularity of setting up schools in a country where homosexuality is illegal raises uncomfortable questions about how much they have to compromise their curriculum or ethos. British private schools have also set up campuses in the Middle East, posing similar challenges.

Ministers unveiled this week their new international education strategy which states independent schools and universities should open more offshoots abroad, as a way of spreading the soft power of British education and reaching a wider audience without adding to immigration to the UK.

Independent school heads have privately accused the government of hypocrisy for adding VAT to fees but wanting to use their brands to boost the economy.

Labour carried out their manifesto commitment a year ago, saying this would end “tax breaks” that the country could not afford. However the government’s latest strategy praises independent schools and says British education is a “strategic asset” that it wants to showcase to help drive up education exports to £40 billion a year.

The strategy document lauded Charterhouse opening a school in Lagos as a flagship partnership between a leading British private school and a foreign country, and it claims the Department for Business and Trade played a “pivotal role”.

This model for UK school partnerships abroad “exemplifies the global potential of British independent schools … while enhancing the UK’s international standing and reputation for excellence,” it said.

The Times

Musicians are feeling the impact of President Trump’ immigration crackdown:

But for foreign artists and the American producers who are looking to work with them, these changes are beginning to wreak havoc. Last week, the Under the Radar theater festival in New York announced it had canceled an event, just days before its intended presentation, that was expected to be one of its highlights this year: “12 Last Songs,” an immersive performance by the British troupe Quarantine, which the festival was presenting in cooperation with La MaMa and the Working Theater.

The group’s visas have not been approved. Tommy Kriegsmann, the festival’s co-producer, said in an interview that no explanation had been given, but the festival’s lawyer believed it was because two crew members — both British citizens and passport holders, Kriegsmann said — were born in Nigeria. That could have triggered the agency pause, since Nigeria is one of the countries with partial restrictions by the administration.

Under the Radar spent a year planning Quarantine’s performance, and its cancellation will cost the festival $150,000 to $200,000, which it cannot recover, Kriegsmann said.

“It’s an unbelievable mess,” he added, “and no one can provide an answer.”

New York Times

News from Ghana:

Ghana’s security forces have arrested nine Nigerians suspected of co-ordinating a host of cyber-crime activities from makeshift offices in and around the capital, Accra.

Forty-four others, believed to be victims brought to Ghana from Nigeria under false pretences, have also been detained and handed over to the immigration authority.

During the two-day intelligence-led operation, raids uncovered 62 laptops, 52 mobile phones and two pump-action guns, the authorities have said.

There is a growing trend of foreigners being lured to Ghana under the pretext of lucrative work. They are then put in gated compounds, have their documents confiscated and are compelled to engage in cyber-crime.

They often work on romance scams, where a victim is encouraged to send money to a fictitious partner who they believe is real, or business email compromise, where someone poses as an employer and gets people to sends funds or sensitive data.

The weekend’s operation was jointly co-ordinated by a host of agencies, including the Cyber Security Authority (CSA).

‘’All the arrested individuals have been duly profiled and handed over to the Ghana Immigration Service for safekeeping and further investigations,” Communications Minister Sam George said in a post on X.,

“We caution foreign nationals invited to Ghana to verify claims made by their fellow nationals to lure them here.’‘

BBC

What Osita Osemene did:

The heavy downpour outside the faded gray bungalow had just eased when Osita Osemene received a phone call from Fahad Nasir. Mr. Osemene stepped out to meet the young man, who had been repatriated back to Nigeria after spending three years in Tunisia, where he says he endured abuse and detention by security forces as a migrant without permanent legal status.

Mr. Nasir wasn’t ready to face his family or society yet. He needed a place to stay while he figured out how to restart his life.

Nigeria has dozens of government and nonprofit-run shelters that house female migrants who are repatriated after irregular migration – the practice of crossing borders outside legal channels. But the bungalow at which Mr. Nasir had just arrived is Nigeria’s first and only all-male shelter for returning migrants, launched in July 2021 by Mr. Osemene’s nonprofit, Patriotic Citizen Initiatives (PCI).

The organization works to restore the dignity of returned migrants from Nigeria and elsewhere, who often experience discrimination once they return home. Many Nigerians assume the migrants were deported for committing crimes.

“I was once a returnee like you, and I’ll share my story shortly,” Mr. Osemene says with a smile as he leads Mr. Nasir inside the facility’s lounge area, where five men – all returned migrants – welcome the young man with handshakes.

Located in Iyana Ipaja, a densely populated commercial suburb in Lagos state, the shelter accommodates 40 men at a time for three to eight months. They are housed in five dormitory-style rooms, each equipped with four sets of bunk beds and a bathroom.

“In Tunisia, I lived in the bush like an animal,” says Mr. Nasir, surveying his room. For the first time since leaving Nigeria, he has decent accommodations and is surrounded by people with stories similar to his.

Christian Science Monitor

Olive Nwosu’s debut feature was shot in Lagos traffic:

“A lot is going on in the Nigerian film space right now,” filmmaker Olive Nwosu tells me over Zoom on a crisp morning in Park City, Utah. “There are a lot of filmmakers who are doing really cool, interesting work.”

Nwosu is right. Filmmakers from across the West African country and its sprawling diaspora have been cropping up across the international festival circuit in recent years, dazzling audiences with a unique cinema culture that is political and inventive yet accessible. Recent examples include Akinola Davies Jr.’s My Father’s Shadow and C. J. Obasi’s Mami Wata. Nwosu has now added to this growing canon with her debut feature, Lady, which world premieres today at the Sundance Film Festival.

Set and shot in Lagos, Nigeria, the film follows the eponymous Lady, a fiercely independent young cab driver, who dreams of escaping the unforgiving city for a peaceful existence living on the coast in Freetown, Sierra Leone. One of the very few female cab drivers on the road, she saves her earnings to fund her escape. But when a long-lost childhood friend, Pinky — now a sex worker — returns, she is pulled reluctantly into her orbit. Soon she’s driving a crew of glamorous, fun-loving women through the dangerous underbelly of Lagos nightlife.

With a synopsis like the above, readers and audiences who engage with Lady will, understandably, associate the film with the robust history of taxi-led titles like Martin Scorsese’s seminal picture, which Nwosu describes as a major influence: “I love Taxi Driver, it was always on my mind.” However, Nwosu’s core influences can be found closer to home.

“Lagos traffic is the symbol of Lagos,” Nwosu explains, discussing the origins behind the film’s story. “The madness and chaos of the road, the number of people who are on the street, the number of cars. The streets are such an emblem of the city, so it felt very key to start there and always return there to capture that insane energy that powers everyone.”

Deadline

How bad is the cost of living crisis in Nigeria?

Riyah James, a teacher at a primary school in Surulere, Lagos, has to spend more on transport than ever before. “There’s hardly anything left of my salary,” the young Nigerian told DW. “Gas prices have skyrocketed. Sometimes the bus conductor demands higher prices practically overnight, and I don’t have enough money with me,” she explained.

“I can hardly afford to shop at the market, and all customers have this problem” of dwindling funds, she adds — not just the poorer ones. Around 52% of Nigerians struggle to make ends meet, according to a 2025 World Bank report.

Everyday life has become a test of endurance for most people in Nigeria. Food prices are at their highest level in over 20 years, and high inflation and skyrocketing transportation costs are exacerbating the cost of living crisis.

DW

Nice piece on how Nigeria has recruited (and tried to) players of Nigerian origin born outside the country into the Super Eagles:

Maduka Okoye, who was a surprise omission from the Nigeria squad for this AFCON, was approached by Rohr in 2019. Okoye grew up in Germany, where former Bayern Munich defender Rohr is from. He played for Fortuna Dusseldorf, and Rohr knew some of their senior figures. Rohr contacted the club directly to gauge Okoye’s interest in representing Nigeria. Okoye, now 26 and with Udinese in Italy, became their first-choice goalkeeper for AFCON 2022 but has only made two appearances since, due to the emergence of current first-choice Stanley Nwabali.

Amaju Pinnick was elected as the NFF’s president in September 2014 and served for eight years. He visited players with dual nationality, including Eze and Tammy Abraham, to hold talks about switching allegiance to Nigeria. In September 2017, then-England Under-21 international striker Abraham denied reports he had agreed to switch.

[…]

The relationship between Abraham’s father and Pinnick is important to highlight. The NFF will often approach a player’s parents first. This is due to cultural practices in Nigeria, and they hope the player’s family will then emphasise the importance of them honouring their heritage.

Abraham spent time in Chelsea’s academy, along with Aina and Fikayo Tomori. The trio remain close friends and if things had worked out differently, could have been playing together at this AFCON. Tomori was born in Canada but is also eligible for Nigeria. However, he never got approached by the NFF. “It’s not like I wouldn’t have played there, but they never called me,” the Milan defender told the Filthy Fellas podcast in November. “So I never had a choice to make.”

Abraham has been capped 11 times by England’s senior side but has not been in the squad since June 2022. Tomori was part of that victorious Under-20 World Cup side with Lookman and went on to make five appearances under Southgate, but he has not been called up since Thomas Tuchel started as head coach a year ago.

FIFA only allows players to switch nationalities if they have never represented another country at senior level, as was the case with Lookman, or if they earned fewer than three caps before they turned 21 and none of those appearances came at a major tournament. Real Madrid’s Diaz took advantage of this rule to represent Morocco after making one appearance for Spain, in a friendly against Lithuania in June 2021.

The Athletic

Osaretin Oronsaye did not die by suicide, contrary to what they were initially told:

The family of a man who was stabbed in the neck with scissors were told he had died by suicide but they “didn’t accept it”, a court has heard.

Police initially believed that there were no suspicious circumstances when Osaretin Oronsaye, 62, was found dead at his flat in Dartford, Kent, on July 5 2025.

Two weeks later, handyman Dorin Ciorba, 29, of Barking, east London, was charged with murder after a post-mortem examination showed Mr Oronsaye was stabbed in the jugular and strangled with cable ties.

At Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday, his family told the court they searched for his belongings after being told Mr Oronsaye had died by suicide.

[…]

Prior to his death, Mr Oronsaye had been in a dispute with Ciorba over payment for some work done on his flat in April and May 2025.

Mr Oronsaye was suing Ciorba for just over £2,000, and the defendant received an email about the court case the day before the attack, the prosecution said.

CCTV shown in court on Tuesday showed Ciorba cycling to Mr Oronsaye’s home in the afternoon of July 5, before being seen cycling away in a different outfit half an hour later.

Daily Mail

Diezani was is in court this week:

Former OPEC president Diezani Alison-Madueke appeared in a London court on Monday, ahead of her full trial on bribery charges relating to her time as Nigeria’s oil minister.

Preliminary proceedings, including technical matters and jury selection, began this week, with Alison-Madueke in attendance.

Alison-Madueke, who was in office from 2010 to 2015, was the first woman oil minister in Nigeria and the first female president of the global oil cartel OPEC.

The 65-year-old has been on bail since she was first arrested in London in October 2015. She has denied six charges against her.

She was formally charged in 2023 by the UK’s National Crime Agency with offences of accepting bribes between 2011 to 2015.

“We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts,” the NCA said at the time.

According to the indictment, Alison-Madueke benefitted from at least £100,000 ($134,000) in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets and the use of multiple London properties.

Daily Mail

And earlier this morning, my quick take on the SEC’s new regulatory “sakula” went out.

This week’s edition is slightly abridged (no Nigerian media section) due to travel commitments.

Enjoy this week’s selection and see you next week

Non-Nigerian Media

I’m still speechless at this fire and its aftermath:

A Scottish priest has lost three brothers in a tower block fire in Nigeria that is believed to have killed a dozen people.

Father William Omatu, assistant priest at Our Lady of Lourdes in Cardonald, lost siblings Stephen, Casmir and Collins in the fire on Christmas Eve.

The fire at the 25-storey Great Nigeria Insurance House building on Lagos Island killed 12 people, according to local media.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was deployed by the federal government in Nigeria to clear the debris following the fire.

Four bodies were recovered from beneath the rubble and have been handed over to health authorities for formal identification.

A funeral for the three brothers was held in Ihiala in the Anambra State, on Wednesday.

Our Lady of Lourdes said on Facebook: “Thoughts and prayers with Fr William and his family this morning at this very difficult and sorrowful time.

“The funeral Mass for Fr William’s brothers, Stephen, Casmir and Collins will take place in their home parish in Lagos at 10am Nigerian time (9am in the UK).

STV News

Houston Rockets celebrated Nigerian Heritage night at a recent game:

The Houston Rockets celebrated Nigerian Heritage Night against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night at Toyota Center. Playing against the defending NBA champions always means a lot, but it coming on Nigerian Heritage Night made it extra special for Rockets coach Ime Udoka, who played for the Nigerian national team.

Udoka was born in Portland, but his father Vitalis came to Oregon from Nigeria to attend Portland State.

“For me, obviously growing up with a Nigerian father and playing with the national team and kind of growing up in a household with some culture, it’s who I am, my background and everything I’m about and proud of,” Udoka said before the game. “Great to be in Houston, they call it ‘Little Lagos’ here, and the (Nigerian) population, obviously, is very high here, and a lot of places I go I’m welcomed with that. So, we’d like to go out and try to put on a good show tonight for the crowd, and for the Nigerians in particular.”

Aside from Udoka — who played for Nigeria in the 2005 FIBA African Championships, the 2006 FIBA World Championships and in AfroBasket 2011 — the Rockets also start Josh Okogie, who was born in Lagos, Nigeria.

Hakeem Olajuwon, the Rockets’ Pro Basketball Hall of Famer who was raised in Lagos, also was sitting courtside.

Houston Chronicle

Lots of reporting still coming through on the December US airstrikes in Nigeria:

Three weeks after the U.S. carried out airstrikes in northwestern Nigeria, an unexploded munition from the attack destroyed buildings and injured three civilians 600 miles away, leading locals to question the Trump administration’s narrative about the strikes and whether they even hit militant targets.

On Christmas Day last year, President Donald Trump ordered the launch of at least 16 GPS-guided munitions against alleged terrorist enclaves in Sokoto state, specifically the Bauni forest axis of Tangaza Local Government Area. The Nigerian government, which coordinated with the U.S., told media outlets that the airstrikes involved the deployment of MQ-9 Reaper drones and the U.S. Navy warship USS Paul Ignatius, stationed in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to eyewitnesses in the village of Jabo, Sokoto, debris from unexpended munitions fell on an open field, but no civilian casualties were recorded. However, an unexploded munition also made landfall in Offa, Kwara state, nearly 600 miles away from the target area in Sokoto, where it destroyed several buildings, including a hotel.

“Suddenly we heard a loud noise, and when we looked up, we saw something bright and burning in the sky just like a rocket,” Bello Adewale, the director of Solid Worth Hotel, told Prism. By the time the dust cleared, three members of staff were lying injured amid a rubble of cement bricks and torn ceilings.

“A staff was hit on the head and another was seriously injured. A third staff developed a panic attack and had to be rushed to the hospital,” Adewale added.

PRISM

Another dispatch from Lagos by Alexis Okeowo:

I’ve heard Lagos described as a tropical-climate version of a city like Moscow, an environment perceived to be so culturally hostile that its inhabitants have to summon great resilience in order to survive. But that’s not quite right: the city may be unwelcoming, but its residents are so hopeful, so trusting that they will realize their Lagosian Dream. In what they trust, I’m not sure—it’s not the federal or local governments, which tax but don’t provide. Nor is it their leaders, who do well personally even as their constituents struggle. Many Lagosians place faith in a higher power, but it may also be a trust in one another, despite the warnings everyone is given from childhood to be suspicious both of strangers and of people you know. When the essential fabric of society has been stretched to its near breaking point, because of the various failures of extractive authorities, it’s impossible to rely only on yourself. Instead, you need family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and sometimes even strangers to help when you can’t get transportation or child care or medical attention, to pitch in when your area has no water or light.

New Yorker

Photo essay on sand dredgers in Lagos. I often tell people this is another reminder of the failure of cement policy in Nigeria but they tell me I’m going too far:

Men in Nigeria lower buckets into the murky water of the Lagos Lagoon and bring up loads of sand, one by one. Going underwater for about 15 seconds at a time, dredgers haul up bucketloads bound for construction sites, reshaping the coastline of Africa’s largest city.

Filling a boat takes about three hours, which is worth about 12,000 naira ($8) to a middleman who supplies larger buyers. Dredgers and local traders say the price of sand, crucial for making concrete, has risen steadily.

The changes to the lagoon are unmistakable. What was once an open stretch of water is increasingly broken up by sandy patches, narrowing channels, and reshaping currents that support thousands of fishermen.

Associated Press

Same story about sand dredging but in a different paper and more prose than photos:

Not far from the bridge, wooden boats are loaded with sand. One of thousands of local dredgers, Akeem Sossu, 34, has been diving for sand for at least three years. He slips beneath the surface for about 15 seconds at a time, hauling up bucketloads bound for construction sites.

Akeem said he and his partner earn about 12,000 naira ($8) each per boatload, selling to a middleman who supplies larger buyers. Filling a boat takes about three hours. Formerly a tailor, he said dredging now supports his household.

“I come out early, sometimes 5 a.m. or 6 a.m., depending on the tide,” he said.

Dredgers and local traders say the price of sand, crucial for making concrete, has risen steadily as development in Lagos has accelerated. A standard 30-ton truckload of what’s known as sharp sand — coarse and gritty — now sells for about 290,000 naira, or roughly $202, reflecting strong demand.

[…]

For some fishermen, dredging has forced an uneasy shift away from the sea. Joshua Monday said he has largely parked his two fishing boats and now works as a mechanic.

He learned how to fix boat engines years ago as a backup.

“If not for this mechanic work, I don’t know how I would survive,” he said.

He said rising costs and shrinking catches have made fishing untenable. Fuel can cost more than 150,000 naira ($104) for a single trip, he said, with no guarantee of a return.

“Sometimes you go to the sea and come back with nothing,” he said. “All the fuel is gone.”

Independent

I had never heard of her before reading this article:

Social media influencer Esther Thomas – known as Sunshine – has died, her family has confirmed.

The Nigerian content creator, who had nearly half a million followers across Instagram and Facebook, died suddenly on January 9 after undergoing surgery.

Confirming her passing in a statement shared online, Thomas’s family said: ‘We the family of Esther Thomas (A.K.A. Sunshine) with pain in our heart we regret to announce the sudden demise of our beloved sister and daughter.

‘We are trying to put things in place so we could put her to rest.’

Fellow social media star Chidera Madu shared details of Thomas’s passing.

He explained that she started experiencing stomach pain on December 28, which led to a hospital trip on New Year’s Day.

After a series of scans, Madu claimed that doctors determined Thomas had a fibroid that had ‘grown so big.’

Doctors reportedly recommended surgery to remove the fibroid and while they said that the procedure had been a success, Madu believes Sunshine experienced complications.

Daily Mail

Nigeria keeps popping up in stories about oil tankers around Venezuela:

One tanker that had been headed toward Venezuela to load up on crude oil diverted away from the country following the U.S. strikes and is now headed to Nigeria, while another four that were sailing to the Latin American country are now stationary, according to vessel tracking data and Singapore-based marine brokers.

The tanker that is now headed to Nigeria is the Chinese-owned Thousand Sunny, a supertanker that has been moving Venezuelan oil to China over the past five years. It had been on course to Venezuela since mid-December despite President Trump’s declaration of a “complete blockade” on Dec. 16. The other four tankers are run by companies that have been sanctioned by the U.S.

WSJ

And this one:

Vessels attempt to “mask their identity, conceal their activity … and evade tracking,” according to Ian Massey, head of corporate intelligence at S-RM. “Such techniques range from the use of obfuscated ownership structures, through to regular changes in a ship’s flag of affiliation and the switching off of automatic identification system (AIS) transponders.”

Some vessels also broadcast false signals. One of those seized by the US this week, the M Sophia, was broadcasting a location off Nigeria while it was in the Caribbean.

The Times

Economist talks up local players in Nigeria’s oil industry. Not sure I buy it as the problems facing the industry (like the lack of exploration) are beyond them:

Since taking office in 2023 President Bola Tinubu, a former oilman, has tried to improve things in the Delta by beefing up security, streamlining contracting and dangling tax incentives, along with a raft of other reforms designed to lower costs and raise competitiveness. That seems to be paying off. In 2025 Nigeria produced 1.47m barrels of crude oil per day on average, the highest level in five years, according to Rystad, a consultancy. The government hopes to double that to 3m barrels per day by 2030. That would put it in the top ten of global producers, behind Brazil.

The rebound is locally driven. Renaissance Energy, a consortium of mostly local firms, took over Shell’s onshore subsidiary in March. Seplat, another home-grown firm, acquired all onshore and shallow-water licences of ExxonMobil, the largest Western oil major, for $1.3bn in 2024. (In December Heirs Energies, a locally owned firm, became Seplat’s largest shareholder in a deal worth nearly $500m.) Oando, which acquired four onshore blocks from Italy’s ENI last year for $783m, plans to invest $2bn by the end of the decade.

Nigerian oil executives argue that local firms are better placed to take risks. Ahonsi Unuigbe of Petralon Energy, which acquired its first oilfield in 2021, says that smaller firms like his “can be nimble and fast”. Tonye Cole, the co-founder of Sahara Group, a Nigerian conglomerate, reckons locals are better equipped to deal with the communities in the Delta whose consent is crucial for operating there. Decades of oil spills and gas leaks have left it one of the most polluted places on earth. Resentment of foreign firms is widespread.

Security in the Delta has improved. Seplat reports that pipeline losses, largely from theft, rose to between 10-15% of output between 2020 and 2021; since 2022 they have not exceeded 5%. Osa Igiehon, the boss of Heirs Energies, says the oilfield it purchased from Shell, ENI and Total in 2021 was once “the poster-child for the challenges which bedevilled onshore production”. Since then, he says, output has doubled and “third-party action”—such as pipeline sabotage—has ceased.

Economist

On Monday I’m excited to share something that has been one of my obsessions over the last 6 years with you. Stay tuned and I hope you like it!

Enjoy the usual selection below

Nigerian Media

Let’s check in on Nigerian farmers as we often do here:

For farmers, especially those in rural areas of Niger State, this harvest season brings little joy. The season instead marks the beginning of a fresh struggle shaped by falling food prices and rising production costs, while government measures appear to favour consumers at the expense of local producers.

Many rural farmers say they feel forgotten in national economic planning. They argue that policies are often designed without considering the realities of farming communities, including poor infrastructure, lack of access to credit, limited storage facilities and weak market access.

Experts, however, warn that if the situation persists, many farmers may reduce production or abandon farming altogether, a development that could deepen food security challenges in the future.

[…]

In one village in Niger State, 17 farmers reportedly paid for hajj seats in 2025 through the sale of produce. However, not a single farmer from that same village has been able to pay this year despite a bumper harvest, according to Mallam Hussaini Abdullahi, a farmer in Gbako Local Government Area.

A staff member of the Niger State Pilgrims Welfare Board confirmed to Weekend Trust that significantly, fewer farmers have come forward to deposit money for the 2026 pilgrimage compared to 2025.

Mohammed Sani Idris Kodo, a farmer in Bosso Local Government, said the falling prices were already fueling rural-urban migration.

“Next farming season, many farmers will not be able to go to the field because farming is a business, and right now, farmers are running at a loss. A bag of paddy rice is between N30,000 and N40,000. How can you pay back loans?” He asked.

Daily Trust

Staying with farming, sort of:

The residents of Isara Remo in the Remo North Local Government Area of Ogun State, under the aegis of the Isara Socio-Economic Vanguard, on Thursday, called for the intervention of Governor Dapo Abiodun as well as the Speaker of the State Assembly, Daisi Elemide, over what they described as the destructive activities of quarry operators in and around the community.

The community members, led by the Chairman of the group, Taiwo Bakare, had earlier presented a petition to the office of Governor Abiodun and the State Assembly Speaker, Daisi Elemide.

The residents lamented that the unchecked mining activities of the quarry companies had destroyed their roads and were negatively impacting the health of the residents of the agrarian community.

They further claimed that several past efforts to persuade the operators to support the well-being and socio-economic development of the community as a way of mitigating the negative impacts of their mining activities had yielded no results.

Speaking to PUNCH Metro at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, on Thursday after submitting copies of the petition, Bakare said, “For several years, our community has suffered utter neglect, intimidation, and unfair treatment at the hands of quarry operators and their collaborators. Despite being the host community, Isara has not meaningfully benefited from the activities of the quarry companies.

“In total defiance of the provisions of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act 2007, the quarries have refused to execute community development agreements with Isara as the host community.

“The community presently suffers from air pollution, environmental degradation, and bad roads caused by heavy-duty trucks plying the roads day and night.

“If the activities of the quarries are not properly regulated by relevant government agencies, we may experience high cases of asthma, lung and skin cancer, in addition to untold degradation of our vast arable land and food insecurity in Remo North Local Government.”

Punch

Meet the Omotaku:

To drive the roads of Lagos is to navigate the arteries of a relentless beast. A permanent haze of diesel

fumes hangs over the routes leading in and out of Apapa, while stretches from Orile to Satellite Town and other roads thrum with the deafening symphony of a megacity in motion.

For truck drivers, bus drivers, as well as commuters using these roads, the biggest danger is not the potholes or the traffic. It is the silent threat that appears the moment a vehicle breaks down: a hiss from the radiator or the slump of a flat tire.

They are called ‘Omotaku.’ From industrial areas to major bridges, they see every breakdown as a chance to attack. They turn a driver’s moment of weakness into an exchange based on fear.

Omotaku is a Yoruba word meaning forceful extortion by any means, or taking something from someone at all costs.

These street urchins are like ghosts on the highway. Saturday Vanguard gathered that some of them are former union officials who were expelled for misconduct. Now they use their inside knowledge to intimidate people.

They don’t just hide; they actively watch the roads. From the wide Third Mainland Bridge to the busy streets of Ojuelegba and other parts of Lagos, they look for drivers in trouble.

“As soon as they reach you, they start making threats,” a weary truck driver told Saturday Vanguard. “If you try to stop and fix your vehicle yourself, especially to change a flat tyre, they gather around you. They say the spot belongs to them. Late at night, especially between midnight and 1 a.m., they are in control. You could be adding water to your radiator and suddenly find yourself surrounded.”

Vanguard

A rather amusing story:

Police in Oyo State have arrested three teenage girls suspected of issuing a kidnapping threat in Ikoyi-Ile, Oriire Local Government Area.

The suspects, aged between 16 and 17, were detained following a complaint from a local resident who reported receiving a threatening phone call.

According to the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Olayinka Ayanlade, the complainant, identified as Islamiat Omowumi, said the caller demanded human parts and a ransom of ₦10 million, claiming she was targeted because she sells meat.

“The command wishes to inform members of the public of the successful arrest of suspected kidnappers following a threat report received by the command, demonstrating its commitment to proactive, intelligence-led and preventive policing,” Ayanlade said.

The suspects—Fathia Nurudeen, 17; Taiwo Fatai, 17; and Munirat Saliu, 16—were quickly traced and arrested by detectives. During interrogation, they allegedly confessed, claiming the threats were intended as a prank. A small Itel mobile phone reportedly used to make the calls was recovered, corroborating the investigation.
Ayanlade said that the suspects remain in custody while police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident to determine the appropriate legal action.

Guardian

In the north, they have the Shilla Boys. The overall issue is the same across the country - too many able bodied young men with nothing but time on their hands:

Three youths identified as members of the criminal elements called Shilla Boys operating in Adamawa State have been arrested for alleged robbery.

The state Police Command said its operatives made the arrest in collaboration with members of the community who keyed into the command’s Community Policing Initiative.

The command specified in a statement obtained Saturday morning that the three suspected Shilla Boys were picked up for involvement in armed robbery, housebreaking, and theft.

The suspects, each of them 19 years old, are Auwal Inusa, Huzaifa Ahmed, and Lukman Abdullahi, all residents of Nassarawo Ward, Yola North LGA.

The statement signed by the state police image maker, SP Suleiman Nguroje, explained that the suspects were apprehended on 5th January 2026, at about 3:00 a.m. after they allegedly armed themselves with offensive weapons, including cutlasses, daggers, and knives, and broke into a certain house in Nassarawo, where they robbed occupants of their valuables.

“Members of the community intercepted and arrested three out of four suspects while one escaped,” Nguroje disclosed, listing items recovered from the suspects as two handsets, a power bank, one cutlass, and two knives.

Daily Post

A very straightforward story from the courts in Ilorin - if you do not have money, perhaps hide your face:

An Area Court at Centre-Igboro in Ilorin, Kwara State, has dissolved the marriage between a man, Toyin Ajibola, and his wife, Bashirat Mohammed, on the grounds of lack of money.

The presiding judge, Hammad Ajumonbi, while delivering ruling, said that even though Toyin did not want to release his wife, she still needed to move so as not to be stranded.

He, therefore, dissolved their union and granted custody of the three children produced by their marriage to the wife.

The court also ordered the woman to observe the three-month iddah (waiting) period before contracting another marriage.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ajumonbi ordered Toyin to be responsible for the feeding of their children.

“He should have unrestricted access to the children and the mother should always make the children available any time their father requested,” the judge said.

Earlier, Bashirat had applied for divorce saying she was tired of their marriage due to lack of money and her husband’s irresponsibility.

“I want the court to grant me divorce so that I can have rest of mind,” she said.

The husband, however, told the court that he was still interested in his wife even though he was financially handicapped.

Tribune

Non-Nigerian Media

The story of Anthony Esan, the 24yr old who tried to kill a British Army officer in an unprovoked attack in July last year:

Esan moved to London from Nigeria in 2009 at the age of nine along with his mother and his two elder siblings.

His mother worked several jobs, including as a cleaner, often leaving the house in the early morning and returning late at night in the hope that her sacrifices would provide her children with opportunities to succeed.

Neighbours in Rotherhithe in southeast London, where Esan spent his formative years, recalled a reclusive child with mental health difficulties who was heavily reliant on his mother and often seen jogging around the local area.

“He was quiet. He had just come to London. It was a massive culture shock for him. His mother was a strict Christian, so she would always do her best to keep him straight and narrow. He would always be doing chores,” a relative said.

[…]

Esan moved to Kent after his stepfather, David Fairfield, died from lung cancer in 2013. His mental health deteriorated, he reeked of cannabis and was often seen buying rolling papers, residents said.

By 2023 Esan’s mother had begun to flag concerns about her son’s behaviour to the police and mental health services. Esan was being treated in the community by Greenwich mental health services after a diagnosis of psychosis. Police described it as “organic psychosis”, a state caused by medical illnesses as opposed to substance abuse.

The warnings were eerily reminiscent of Wheeler, the “highly sexualised” recluse, whose father claimed pleas for help were “ignored by mental health teams for seven years” before his son’s fatal attack.

The Times understands Esan’s condition began to deteriorate in the months before the attack. A source said that he stopped engaging with his family, who believed that he had stopped taking his medication.

Esan had previously been arrested for drugs offences but no further action was taken due to a lack of evidence. He had also been arrested for driving offences.

The Times

Namaste Wahala is returning. Wahala:

“Her film became a global hit when it was released by Netflix during the Covid-19 pandemic -- signalling the start of a collaboration between the two massive movie sectors.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi even mentioned the film during his visit to Nigeria in late 2024.

And another “Namaste Wahala” film is now in the works, Ahuja revealed.

Since the 2020 release of her debut film, Ahuja has also had a Netflix series called “Postcards” and is preparing to premiere “Simi and Friends” this year.

With no formal movie-making training, “Namaste Wahala” -- a cross-cultural rom-com whose title means “Hello trouble” -- was “her schooling” in film, she said.

Shot in Lagos, it is about an Indian investment banker who falls in love with a Nigerian lawyer -- and their parents’ struggle to accept their union.

A potpourri of languages, actors switch between English, Pidgin and Hindi.

“I decided to jump in without a thought,” she recalled during a recent interview in the bustling mega-metropolis of Lagos, where she lives.”

AFP

Tomiwa Owolade on Nigerian roads:

Nigeria’s greatest novelist Chinua Achebe left his homeland because of a car crash. In 1990, the author of Things Fall Apart was driving between his native village of Ogidi and Nigeria’s largest city Lagos when he was knocked unconscious and became paralysed from the waist down. He permanently moved to America and spent the rest of his life there in “medical exile”.

If you look at the face of the distinguished British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, the leading man in 12 Years a Slave, you may notice a scar on his forehead. This is a legacy of an incident that took place when he was visiting Nigeria as a child. He was inside a car which smashed into a lorry; his father was killed.

Nigerian roads have left physical and mental scars on countless other people. The latest to suffer this dubious fate, the British boxer Anthony Joshua, is part of a wider sickening trend. Joshua was injured in a car crash on a road that connects Lagos and Ibadan which has left two people dead.

But Nigeria should not be seen in isolation. One of the things that markedly distinguishes African countries in general from European ones is road safety

The Telegraph

Elsewhere in Britain:

A Nigerian man, who was jailed for threatening a British woman with a knife in front of her child, has avoided deportation because it would breach the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Olajide Shinaba, 32, was jailed for 11 months for the attack in which he said he would have stabbed her if she had been a man.

However, he has been allowed to remain in the UK after an immigration judge ruled that his deportation would breach his rights to a family and private life under Article 8 of the ECHR.

The court was told he had lived in the UK since arriving as a child in 2003 and had three children by two different partners in Britain.

Judge Luke Bulpitt said: “I conclude that any public interest in maintaining effective immigration control through [Shinaba’s] removal, is outweighed by the strength of the [his] private and family life in the UK.

“In those circumstances the removal of the appellant would be incompatible with his Article 8 Convention rights and would therefore be unlawful.”

The Telegraph

Nigerian on Nigerian action on a basketball court:

Georgia center Somto Cyril was ejected for throwing a forearm into Florida’s Rueben Chinyelu on Tuesday night.

Officials ejected Cyril midway through the first half after watching replays and seeing Cyril swing his arm and fist at Chinyelu following a made basket. The two Nigerians were jockeying for position under the basket during the play.

It was a huge loss for the 18th-ranked Bulldogs. The defending national champion Gators scored the next eight points and quickly built their biggest lead of the game.

The 6-foot-11 Cyril entered the game averaging 10 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.9 blocks a game. He was shooting a team-high 81.1% on the season.

AP News

A hidden gem in Glasgow no longer hidden:

A hidden gem spot in the southside has been delighting food fans by offering a mouth-watering taste of Nigerian cuisine.

The family-run Abbey’s Spice Company opened at Enterprise Park in September and offers a selection of the country’s popular dishes.

Taking over Unit 48 at the new retail space on Drakemire Drive, it shares the same home as the likes of pizza specialists Sub Rosa and spin class specialists the Cycle Pit, with Enterprise Park quickly becoming the space to go to for exciting new businesses.

“Blending “authentic tradition with modern flavour”, they say they “make every visit feel like family” and offer dishes like gizzdodo, puff puff (Nigerian fried dough balls), banga soup, ayamase (ofada stew), jollof rice and fried plantain.

Glasgow Live

You might now need biometrics to get on the internet via Starlink:

Users of satellite internet service provider Starlink in Nigeria are being required to complete a biometric Know Your Customer (KYC) process as a precondition to continue enjoying their services.

According to local reports, more than 66,000 Starlink subscribers in the country had a December 31 ultimatum from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to complete the biometric verification or have their connection discontinued.

The process essentially entails linking a Starlkink account with the subscriber’s national digital ID.

Biometric Update

Kannywood is having to evolve:

Kamilu Ibrahim is among the directors hoping to break the mould -- in addition to pushing to include “aspects that are not commonly seen in Hausa films”, Ibrahim has also put English and Arabic subtitles in his work in a bid to reach a wider audience.

Filmmakers still find a way to focus on the same themes that dominate Nollywood: love, vengeance and treason all make good fodder for the at times over-the-top melodrama Nigerian movies are known for.

But nudity, “sexual scenes” as well as “content that is contrary to customs, traditions, and religion” are all out of bounds, Abba El-Mustapha, an actor and director who also serves as the executive secretary of the Kano State film censorship board, told AFP.

When AFP visited Ibrahim’s set last year, he was filming season two of “Wata Shida”, a series about a woman confronted with the prospect of a forced marriage.

In order to get out of it, she marries another man, with both of them seeking the convenience of a partnership on paper, rather than real romance -- an on-the-nose plotline in a region where women and girls are frequently wedded to their parents’ choice of husband.

“We are not used to seeing someone going out in pursuit of a dream without family consent,” Ibrahim said, noting the importance of films to “question certain important social issues”.

“Wata Shida” actor Adam Garba said he hopes to see the series broadcast on a major streaming platform one day -- though for now, it’s available on YouTube.

Daily Mail

Herbie Hide is in court for punching a policeman:

Former heavyweight world champion Herbie Hide has appeared in court accused of punching a plain clothes police officer during a confrontation at his home.

The 54-year-old, once crowned WBO heavyweight champion and famed in the ring as the ‘Dancing Destroyer’, stood before Norwich Magistrates’ Court charged with assault following an incident at his gated property in Norfolk.

The court heard that on July 3 last year, police officers who were not in uniform and were travelling in an unmarked car entered the property.

Prosecutors said that after one officer returned to the vehicle, he was punched in the face by Hide.

It was alleged that the officer had not identified himself as a police constable.

When invited to enter a plea to a single charge of assault of a constable in the execution of his duty, Hide responded: ‘definitely not guilty’.

Addressing magistrates directly, the former boxer explained his account of events, saying: ‘A man who I didn’t know came into my house speaking to my children.’

[…]

Born Herbert Okechukwu Maduagwu in Nigeria in 1971, Hide moved to Norfolk as a child and grew up in the county.

He rose to international fame in the boxing world, first winning the World Boxing Organisation heavyweight title against Michael Bentt in 1994 before reclaiming it in 1997 with a victory over Tony Tucker.

Daily Mail

Some news from Toronto:

The Toronto Police Service is updating the public about a Homicide investigation.

On Sunday, January 4, 2026, at approximately 7 p.m., police responded to a call for a Shooting at the Yorkdale GO Bus Terminal in the Yorkdale Road and Allen Road area.

It is alleged that:

• the victim and suspect both boarded a GO bus at the terminal

• the suspect shot the victim on the bus before fleeing the area on foot

• officers arrived and located the male victim suffering from a gunshot wound

• life-saving measures were performed, but the victim was pronounced deceased at the scene

• the suspect was located and arrested by officers a short time later and a firearm was recovered

The victim has been identified as Osemwengie Irorere, 46, of Nigeria.

Toronto Police Service

And also from Toronto:

A man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a student on University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus (UTSC) last month, police say.

Babatunde Afuwape, a 28-year-old Toronto man, is accused of fatally shooting 20-year-old Shivank Avasthi on a popular campus trail on Dec. 23, Det.-Sgt. Stacey McCabe said at a news conference Wednesday.

Around 3:30 p.m. that day, officers were called to the area of Highland Creek Trail and Old Kingston Road for unknown trouble, Toronto police said last month.

Police arrived to find Avasthi with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooting was Toronto’s 41st homicide of 2025.

Avasthi was a third-year University of Toronto student from India, McCabe said.

“He was young, bright, and had his whole life ahead of him. Our thoughts remain with his family, friends and classmates,” she said. “This was a deeply tragic case.”

CBC

Won’t bore you with links to all the pieces we published during the break except for these two - Tobi’s book review essay on capitalism and regulation and my piece on defensive capacity in Nigeria’s cement industry and what to do about it. We have a lot planned and lined up for 1914 Reader this year which we hope we can execute on. Thank you for your consistent support through 2025.

Enjoy the usual selection below.

Nigerian Media

Nigerian farming is in a real crisis and has no easy fixes:

Farmers have described 2025 as the worst year for their livelihoods in a decade. Most villages recorded low harvests despite high production costs, while the value of their output plummeted due to a sharp drop in food prices during the harvest season.

Many farmers, who spoke to Weekend Trust, said their losses in 2025 were enormous, particularly because of the significant capital invested in production.

Solomon Yohana, a rice farmer in Lafia, Nasarawa State, said he lost a significant amount of money on his rice investment this year.

He said, “As I speak with you now, there are villages where paddy is sold at N15,000 per bag (100kg) but nobody is buying because of the cost of transportation and poor market. Farmers are really suffering. This Christmas, many could not buy anything tangible to celebrate. How many bags of rice would they have to sell to buy one goat or pay for beef?

“Many of these farmers borrowed money with the hope of repaying after the harvest, but prices are dropping every day. Last week, millet was bought at N21,000 at Agyaragu market. In Lafia and Doma, a pickup truck of cassava is N80,000, but the farmer has to pay N30,000 for transport alone, minus labour. How much is left for the farmer?”

Daily Trust

I am actually surprised there are still donkeys to skin in Nigeria. Chinese demand more or less decimated them about a decade ago:

The Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, Zone D, Bauchi, has intercepted 718 pieces of donkey skins worth over N24m, allegedly being smuggled out of the country.

The Zonal Comptroller, Abdullahi Kaila, disclosed this on Tuesday during a media briefing on the unit’s anti-smuggling activities at the command’s headquarters in Bauchi.

Kaila stated, “The cumulative Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the seized items stands at N24,313,217.00.”

He noted that the arrest aligns with the directive of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale, to enforce a zero-tolerance stance against the illegal trade in endangered species.

“This operation is part of our broader mandate to combat illegal wildlife trade and enforce the Federal Government’s ban on the exportation of donkey skins,” he said.

Punch

Claims about hair maintenance:

The old tradition of visiting the salon, washing, drying and styling of hair is fading gradually as the cost of living keeps skyrocketing and purchasing power reducing.

Economy&Lifestyle has discovered that apart from cutting hair, maintaining natural hair to save cost, many with relaxed hair have improvised various low cost means to maintain their hair styles. Some women now use detergents, liquid soap for dishes to replace hair shampoo, kerosene and canfur mixtures as relaxers among other things.Explaining the reason for such action, Mrs Theresa Kingsley, a small business owner said: “Do you know the latest price of shampoo and conditioner?

“Even the price of a relaxer is high. Before, with N150 or N200, you can get a good relaxer. The opposite is the case now. A small bottle of good shampoo goes for N3,000 to N20,000.If you buy one of N500 it will turn to water within two days.

“I decided to use detergent or liquid wash for myself and my daughter. Sometimes I use soda bar soap which cleanses my hair better compared to liquid wash.

“My daughter doesn’t visit the salon anymore because I created time to plait her hair to cut costs.I have decided to go on a low hair cut next year to save myself from all this hair drama.”

Vanguard

Good piece on the US airstrikes by HumAngle, who do good work reporting on northern Nigeria:

“It was the first time we heard what a bomb sounded like in this community,” Musa said. “Many of us couldn’t sleep throughout the night.”

Aliyu Garba, a local chief in Jabo, expressed concerns over how some locals have collected the relics of the explosive materials from the strike scene, saying some of the shrapnel might detonate or harm them. “It was as big as a car’s gearbox,” he said, describing one of the broken explosives found on the ground.

Garba added that they have lived in the community peacefully for years, praying that this new event would not bring calamity to them. Locals reiterated that they have not noticed any form of terrorist activities in the area for years, let alone the Islamic State operations that might call for such an airstrike.

According to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) records covering 2010 to 2025, Tambuwal LGA has experienced only a handful of violent incidents, primarily involving small-scale attacks and abductions by criminal groups. The dataset records no previous incidents involving airstrikes, heavy artillery, or aerial bombardment in the area. In the past 15 years, for instance, only seven significant events were recorded in the LGA, and none happened in the Jabo town.

HumAngle

Amotekun at work:

The Osun State Security Network Agency, codenamed Amotekun Corps, has arrested three suspects over the alleged theft of 97 goats in Ila-Orangun, Osun State.

The suspects were identified as 34 year old Ajayi Tope, an indigene of Ila-Orangun, as well as 46 year old Babalola Afeez and 46 year old Tajudeen Isiaka, both from Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State.

According to a statement by the Spokesperson, Yusuf Idowu Abass on Friday, the trio were arrested at about midnight on December 31, 2025, by operatives of the Osun Amotekun Corps attached to the Ila-Orangun Command.

The arrest followed complaints by residents of Ila-Orangun over the persistent disappearance of goats within the community.

According to the Corps, “operatives acted on the reports by placing the suspected perpetrators under surveillance in order to track their movements.

“The suspects were eventually apprehended when they allegedly returned to the town late at night to steal more goats and were arrested on the spot.

Daily Post

Non-Nigerian Media

23 minute video on the history of Transsion - makers of Tecno phones - in Africa. An interesting part (around 16mins in) is where they talk about how they solved the problem of their phone cameras not taking good photos of black people. They simply got someone to take surreptitious photos of Africans and sent back to Guangzhou for analysis:

Crazy story of a guy here in the UK who tried to dodge paying child support by getting his friend to go take a paternity test on his behalf:

Raphael Duyile asked his friend Lanre Balogonn – who runs a celebrity chauffeuring firm – to fraudulently take the DNA test for him at a health centre in the borough.

Woolwich Crown Court heard that Duyile, 33, wanted to stop paying child support to the mother, Chanel Weekes, after his family fell out with her and he started having “financial difficulties”.

When the fraudulent paternity test results came back negative, Duyile brazenly sent a text to Ms Weekes telling her she had “some explaining to do”.

However, investigators uncovered Duyile and Balogonn’s deception – and they have now been handed suspended jail sentences for conspiracy to defraud.

[…]

“He is very remorseful.”

The barrister said his client, who has previous convictions for driving offences, now runs a successful business that allows him to support several members of his family.

His firm, So Suave Chauffeurs, is popular with the rich and famous, who value it for its “discretion”, Mr Hannaford added.

Posts on the company’s Instagram page show celebrity clients including superstar singer Akon, Love Island stars Indiyah Polack and Dami Hope and the rapper Tion Wayne.

The court also heard about the good work the firm has carried out, including sponsoring the construction of a well in an impoverished area of Nigeria.

Lewisham Letter

FT piece on President Bola Tinubu’s order for Police to stop protecting “VIPs”. Will it hold this time? Don’t hold your breath:

Some years ago, Moshood Jimoh, a police spokesperson, boasted about the force’s role in protecting VIPs, saying the then-governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, had no fewer than 221 police officers assigned to him, including 54 inspectors, 134 police sergeants and 24 police corporals. The country’s 35 other governors enjoyed similar service, Jimoh said.

Financial Times

Looks like Oluwadamilola Bamigboye is in big trouble, to put it midly:

A man and a woman are facing charges after allegedly trying to flee federal authorities while an agent was trapped in the vehicle with them.

The agent said he was afraid of being “abducted” when the woman drove to a police station despite him saying he was law enforcement and demanding she stop.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court says the incident began on Dec. 10 at Plymouth apartment complex when Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) agents were searching for Oluwadamilola Ogooluwa Bamigboye, who had overstayed his student visa.

The agents were surveilling the apartment building where he lived, as well as his vehicle, which was parked nearby.

While staking out the complex, agents say they saw an SUV park next to Bamigboye’s vehicle. They reportedly recognized Bamigboye as a passenger in the front seat of the SUV.

The woman driving the SUV was later identified as Rekeya Lionesha Lee Frazier.

FOX 9

A celebrated Nigerian scholar pleads guilty to fraud:

A former nonprofit leader accused of stealing more than $1 million from an organization that served low-income children and their families has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges, court records show.

Nkechy Ezeh, the founder and former CEO of the Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and tax evasion. Under the plea deal, Ezeh will pay an estimated $1.4 million in restitution and nearly $400,000 in back taxes to the IRS.

ELNC, which has since shut down, worked to prepare at-risk preschoolers for kindergarten in Kent County, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. For more than a decade, ELNC supported more nearly 8,000 children and their families, court documents show.

Ezeh conspired with the ELNC’s bookkeeper, Sharon Kay Killebrew, to embezzle more than $1 million from the nonprofit — nearly bankrupting the organization and forcing it to close and stop serving at-risk preschoolers. Ezeh instructed Killebrew to create nearly $500,000 worth of fraudulent invoices which she then used her position at the CEO to approve.

“They left almost no stone unturned in their quest to siphon money,” federal prosecutors wrote in Killebrew’s sentencing memorandum in November.

Ezeh’s schemes eventually became more elaborate. She created two additional daycare businesses — one of which was a registered nonprofit — to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to herself, Killebrew and unnamed others for work that they did not do. Ezeh also used ELNC funds to finance personal travel for herself and others to Hawaii, Nigeria and Liberia.

Wood TV

From an article about how recovering criminal assets is challenging in practice:

At Southwark crown court a record £101.5 million confiscation order was imposed on Ibori in ­July 2023, more than a decade after his conviction for laundering into the UK funds that he stole from the Nigerian people. Yet recovery remains “elusive” with a series of court appeals.

The Times

Terrific piece on Detty December by Ruth MacLean. I think it should be safe to say that Detty December suffered some reputational damage this iteration and work needs to be done to repair that if it is to continue as an export product:

But there are many who can’t afford even that. As the ravers left, climbing into their S.U.V.s and Ubers, they were trailed by candy hawkers and beggars asking to be “blessed” with a few cents.

Seasonal blessings of the monetary kind were on Pastor Bolaji Idowu’s mind not long afterward at his 15,000-capacity megachurch, Harvesters.

“The person who turned paper into dollars, God bless you!” he said, referring to the inventor of banknotes, as he instructed everyone to video themselves singing during the worship service and post the clips on social media.

Whatever the season, Sundays for Lagos’s Christians are for church, and Harvesters was hosting its annual carol service, a high-octane stage production where the biblical met the bombastic and the Detty December spirit took a holy turn.

The Nativity was reimagined as a political thriller: Soldiers in uniform marched to a commander’s bark — “Soldiers of Christ, attention!” — while a terrified Herod stalked the stage, desperate to snuff out a “coup” by the newborn “Governor,” but frequently getting distracted by a love interest played by Nollywood actress Bimbo Ademoye. A mash-up of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and “Little Drummer Boy” dissolved into “O Come All Ye Faithful,” led by funky drummers in military hats with purple plumes.

New York Times

I don’t know who this is but sharing anyway:

“Bachelor Nation alum Brianna Thorbourne is engaged!

Thorbourne, 27, who appeared on seasons 27 of The Bachelor, shared the news on Instagram on Tuesday, Dec. 30. In the post, she revealed that the proposal took place in Lagos, Nigeria.

“Turns out, 2025 saved its best surprise for last 💍 I’ve become left handed yall!!!!” she wrote in the post’s caption, which accompanied a video montage of the special moment.”

“She went on to express her appreciation for her fiancé, Anthony Harris Jr, whom she met at Pepi Sonuga’s wedding in July 2025.”

People

Good piece on the Lakurawa terror group who were targeted by the US bombings in December:

Deep fear has long pervaded the arid savannah plains and highlands of north-western Nigeria - even before the US air strikes on the Islamist militants who have made this area their base on Christmas night.

The heavily armed jihadists, who dress in camouflage and wear vibrant turbans, have lived in camps in Tangaza, a remote area of Sokoto state near the border with Niger, for several years.

They belong to a group called Lakurawa and hail from areas north of Nigeria in the Sahel.

Locals in Tangaza, a community made up of mainly moderate Muslims, believe they come from Niger and Mali - and are terrified of them.

Recently, both US and Nigerian authorities have said the militants are affiliated to Islamic State (IS) groups in the Sahel - though IS has not linked itself to any of the group’s activities or announced ties to Lakurawa as it has done with other groups in the region that it backs.

When the BBC visited Nukuru, one of several remote villages in Tangaza around 10km (six miles) from where the US missiles struck, most people were deeply suspicious and did not want to talk about Lakurawa - fearing reprisal if they spoke.

It was only after assurances that their identities would be kept anonymous that some men agreed to be interviewed, speaking in hushed tones.

BBC

Some lithium updates:

Chariot Resources Limited has executed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Shanghai GreatPower Nickel & Cobalt Materials Co. Ltd., a prominent China-based battery materials producer, to explore collaboration across its prospective Nigerian lithium portfolio.

The MOU outlines potential offtake for up to 200,000 tonnes per annum of spodumene concentrate – the principal ore of lithium - from one of Chariot’s four Nigerian projects and included options for development financing, credit lines, and offtake prepayments to accelerate exploration and production.

The parties will also evaluate the possibility of building a lithium processing facility in Nigeria to upgrade run-of-mine ore into concentrate onsite, potentially incorporating sustainable practices such as electric mining equipment and solar-plus-storage microgrids for site power.

Shanghai GreatPower operates multiple facilities in China producing battery-grade materials including lithium carbonate, bringing significant technical and supply chain expertise to the partnership. The company’s major customers include LG Energy Solution, a battery company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea which holds a 4.02 per cent stake in GreatPower.

The West Australian

Thanks for sticking with us and hope you enjoy the holidays!

Enjoy the week’s selection below

Nigerian Media

This profile of Abubakar Shekau by Ahmed Salkida is quite an interesting read. It left me with so many questions:

Shekau, who was wounded during a night assault on the Police Headquarters on July 27, 2009 (a bullet tore through his thigh), went underground. From the dust-choked streets of Maiduguri, he was ferried to Kano and admitted to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala. Months passed as he nursed his wounds later in a rented house in the Rijiyan Zaki area within the Kano metropolis. This was when he adopted a pseudonym — Alhaji Garba — hiding his true identity from neighbours and strangers.

Shekau’s personal life was as regimented as his theology. He remarried after his first wife’s death, and later took an additional wife, Hajara, who was the younger sister of one of Mohammed Yusuf’s wives. By the time Boko Haram’s violent uprising erupted in July 2009, Shekau was married to Yana and Hajara. After Yusuf’s death, Shekau claimed one of his widows, Hajja Gana, as his third. By 2011, when he was still living in Rijiyan Zaki in Kano, he added a fourth wife, Fatima, from Potiskum in Yobe State.

“Alhaji Garba” defied the script, as bombs were being detonated at the Police headquarters, UN house, media houses and several mosques and churches in Abuja and across northern Nigeria. He cruised highways, dropped into towns, and traded pleasantries at checkpoints from the owner’s corner of his SUV and sometimes in the ’90s model of a Golf sedan.

Then came the nationwide search. Cornered in Kano, he bolted through Maiduguri to Bama, the ghost town he controlled and vanished into the Sambisa wilderness. He took with him his four wives and dozens of children

HumAngle

Crazy story:

Tension broke out on Tuesday at the main entrance of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, after multiple rounds of ammunition reportedly tumbled out of a speeding passenger bus along the Zaria–Katsina road.

A video posted on X by Zagazola Makama, a counter-terrorism platform, showed the incident unfolding directly in front of the university gate, sparking confusion among students, passersby and motorists.

According to the publication, an eyewitness identified as Musa said the bullets fell from a commercial bus heading towards Katsina. “We suddenly saw the bullets drop from the bus as it sped past the gate. Before people could understand what happened, the vehicle had already disappeared,” he said.

Musa explained that some onlookers immediately gathered the scattered ammunition and notified security personnel positioned nearby.

Another student, who declined to give their name, described the moment as “strange and frightening,” adding that many feared the items might be part of “supplies meant for bandits” operating in parts of Kaduna and Katsina.

Makama reported that security agents later moved to the location and retrieved the ammunition.

Vanguard

More data on the price of selling babies in Nigeria:

A syndicate including a pastor who specialises in abduction, trafficking and sale of children have been apprehended by the Niger state Police command.

The police, acting on an intelligence report, traced the 2-year-old girl to a Pastor resident in Abuja who had bought her for a sum of N2.8m.

During interrogation, it was discovered that the Pastor had also sold the girl to another buyer in Delta state for a sum of N3.8m, making a gain of N1.8m from the sale.

The breakthrough and success story was from a chain of investigation carried out by the police command in the past month since a woman, Chukwumezie, was arrested at Dikko junction with three children she had abducted and sold out.

The state police command, through its Spokesman, Superintendent of Police Wasiu Abiodun, said six children have already been recovered through the ongoing investigation, adding that eight suspects are also in the police net, helping with the investigation.

Vanguard

Good work by Punch newspaper to highlight this but isn’t this a new road?

The Federal Government has begun the repair of the damaged expansion joints on some bridges along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, PUNCH Metro findings have revealed.

This follows an earlier report by our correspondent in July 2025, detailing the concerns of motorists over the damaged expansion joints.

The report highlighted motorists’ fears that the damaged joints, if not repaired, could cause accidents.

Our correspondent, who had visited some sections of the expressway, observed that the rubber covers of the expansion joints had peeled off, while parts of the joints had begun showing signs of potholes.

The report also showed that several vehicles were seen avoiding the damaged sections at the Wawa end of the Long Bridge, while others, who seemed unaware, rammed into the bad portions.

Following the first report, the Federal Ministry of Works promised that plans were in top gear to ensure the expansion joints were repaired.

The then Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Olukorede Kesha, had given the assurance in a telephone conversation with our correspondent.

Punch

From a court trial in Kano:

The Kano State High Court No. 1 sitting at the Audu Bako Secretariat has continued hearing the murder trial of Ayuba Sani, accused of killing Ibrahim Dan Larai in Tumfafi town, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area.

The alleged incident occurred last year. Ayuba Sani allegedly stabbed the deceased in the neck with a knife following repeated disputes over waking him up at dawn for morning prayers at a mosque despite warning to desist from doing so.

At the resumed sitting on Thursday, the state prosecutor, Barrister Amina Uba, called two witnesses including ASP Cindu Cuwa and Inspector Buhari who testified on the investigation they conducted into the case.

The court subsequently discharged both witnesses after their testimonies.With their appearance, the total number of prosecution witnesses presented so far has risen to three.

Daily Post

News from Katsina:

Katsina State Police Command has arrested a newly married woman for allegedly killing her husband three days after their wedding in Jibia Local Government Area of the state.

The Command’s spokesperson, ASP Abubakar Aliyu, confirmed the incident in a statement on Tuesday.

He said the groom, identified as Abdullahi (not his real name), was discovered in a pool of blood at his residence in Tashar Buja community and later pronounced dead at the hospital.

“On November 23, 2025, at about 1:30 p.m., a report was received at the Jibia Division that one Abdullahi, a newly wedded groom, was found motionless in a pool of blood in his residence at Tashar Buja Quarters, Jibia LGA,” the statement read.

“Detectives were immediately deployed to the scene, where the victim was found with a deep cut to his neck. He was rushed to the hospital but was confirmed dead on arrival,” he added.

Aliyu added that the prime suspect, believed to be the wife of the deceased, was arrested and is currently in custody as investigation continues.

The suspect, Zainab Muhammad, reportedly stabbed her husband while he was asleep before leaving the house. Neighbours alerted authorities after discovering the deceased lying lifeless.

Family members of the deceased dismissed claims that the marriage was forced, stating that the couple had maintained a cordial relationship prior to their wedding.

Daily Post

Getting a scholarship from the government to study abroad does not really mean anything:

The House of Representatives has initiated a probe into claims that scholarship stipends meant for students studying both within Nigeria and overseas have not been paid, a situation said to have placed many of them under severe hardship and disrupted their academic progress.

This was revealed as the House Committee on Students Loans, Scholarships, and Higher Education Financing, chaired by Hon. Ifeoluwa Ehindero began its investigative hearing on Wednesday.

During the hearing, parents of the affected students presented their concerns to the committee, expressing deep anxiety about the consequences the delayed payments have had on their families and their children’s welfare.

The parents, speaking under the umbrella of the Forum of Parents and Guardians of FGN Bilateral Education Agreement Scholarship Recipients, Abuja, Nigeria, alleged that the Federal Government has violated the terms of the scholarship awards.

They stated that the programme had previously run smoothly across various host countries and that numerous former Nigerian beneficiaries had gained significantly from it and were now contributing meaningfully to national development.

The parents noted that although the host nations had largely adhered to the provisions of the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA), Nigeria had failed to consistently fulfill its obligations to pay the stipends as required.

They further explained that within the past three years, the situation had deteriorated, adversely affecting the scholars.

They urged the committee to examine the specific contractual commitments outlined in the award letters.

The parents recalled that as of 2018, the award letter provided beneficiaries with $500 per month and $600 annually for feeding, local transportation, and books/equipment; an annual warm clothing stipend of $250; and $200 for health insurance.

The package also included a $60,000 take-off grant prior to departure, along with a one-way ticket to the host country and a return ticket at the end of the study period to be obtained from the Nigerian Mission.

They added that a similar letter issued to another scholar in September 2022 listed the same benefits: a monthly supplementation allowance of $500 and $6,000 annually for feeding, transportation and equipment/books; $250 for warm clothing; $200 for health insurance per year; a $60,000 take-off grant; and one-way and return flight provisions to be collected from the Nigerian Mission abroad.

ThisDay

Non-Nigerian Media

Latest from UK immigration tribunal:

A Nigerian asylum seeker claimed that her “celebrity status” would put her at risk if returned to her home country.

The unnamed woman lodged a human rights claim to remain in the UK after saying her political activism combined with her high profile as a “well-known model and actress” would put her at risk.

She was initially denied asylum by the Home Office after lying about her salary on her visa application, but an immigration judge said her case needed to be reheard as the facts of her situation had not been fully considered.

Her case comes after Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, announced major reforms to the asylum system, making refugee status temporary and giving ministers powers to return migrants to their home country once it was deemed safe.

Ms Mahmood is also overhauling immigration appeals by replacing judges with adjudicators, as well as limiting illegal migrants and foreign offenders’ ability to exploit human rights laws to fight deportation.

The Nigerian woman, known only as OO, sought asylum in November 2021, which was refused by the Home Office in November 2023. She claimed that because she coordinated and attended a demonstration hoping to shut down the Nigerian government’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) – a federal police unit accused of widespread rights abuses – she would be at risk upon returning home.

Telegraph

Someone thought this was a good idea:

The UK government has rejected a request by Nigeria to deport a former senior Nigerian politician convicted of organ trafficking.

Ike Ekweremadu, 63, a former deputy president of the Nigerian senate and ally of the former president Goodluck Jonathan, is serving a sentence of nine years and eight months after being found guilty in 2023 of conspiring to exploit a man for his kidney.

Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice, and a co-conspirator, Dr Obinna Obeta, trafficked a young man to London with a view to harvesting his kidney, which they planned to transplant to Ekweremadu’s daughter Sonia in a private unit of an NHS hospital.

It was the first conviction for organ trafficking under the Modern Slavery Act.

Last week, a Nigerian government delegation, led by the foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, met officials at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to discuss Ekweremadu’s case. The delegation requested his deportation so he could serve his remaining sentence in Nigeria.

A source at the MoJ has confirmed the request was rejected. It is understood the UK government was concerned that there are no guarantees that Ekweremadu would continue his prison sentence after being deported.

Guardian

News from North Carolina:

A Nigerian romance scammer was found guilty by a federal jury of laundering more than $120,000 from a Triangle area man, officials announced Wednesday. Saheed Sunday Owolabi, 34, was convicted Oct. 16 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, court records show. He was arrested in July 2024, about four months after he arrived in the United States on a spousal visa, according to court documents. Owolabi was indicted in June 2022, along with another Nigerian man and two American men, court documents show. He and Stephen Ojo, the other Nigerian, posed as women online and convinced men to send and receive money for them, the indictment states.

“Investigators recovered chat messages in which Owolabi admitted he was running a romance scam until he realized he was actually communicating with another fraudster,” a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice states. “That individual mocked Owolabi’s efforts and told him to ‘learn how to do a cleaner job.’”

One of those victims was Derrick Donahue Davis of Concord, according to court documents. Davis fell for Ojo, who was allegedly going by the name “Kyra Carter,” after meeting the fake woman on a dating app in 2018, court documents state.

Davis ultimately played a crucial role in an April 2020 scam where the men sent a Triangle area man identified as “KCN” an email pretending to be KCN’s attorney. KCN was closing on a home in Apex, and the fake email used the COVID-19 pandemic as a ploy to get KCN to wire $120,768.17 to Davis’ bank account to avoid a delayed closing, court documents allege.

Davis then sent the money to several other people, and at least $1,500 made its way back to Owolabi, according to court documents. The victim didn’t realize he’d been scammed until he arrived at the closing appointment. Law enforcement noticed the large transaction and told Davis he was participating in criminal activity, but he allegedly continued to move money for Ojo and Owolabi nonetheless, court documents state.

The Herald Sun

Some ‘foreign’ investors are in town for some lithium:

Perth-based lithium explorer Chariot Corporation has moved decisively to unlock near-term cash flows from its Nigerian lithium portfolio, signing a binding agreement to formalise small-scale mining across its four highly prospective project areas.

The deal, struck with local partner Continental Lithium Limited via JV entity C&C Minerals Limited (Chariot 66.667%, Continental 33.333%), is conditional on completion of Chariot’s acquisition of its interest in C&C Minerals and the Nigerian projects under a share sale agreement announced to ASX in mid July 2025, upon which C&C Minerals will then serve as the holding company for Chariot’s Nigerian lithium portfolio.

Once settled, Continental will manage on-ground mining and logistics, taking advantage of its in-country expertise, while Chariot will handle project financing, offtake agreements and regulatory compliance.

The transaction positions Chariot as one of the first publicly-listed lithium explorers with significant holdings in Nigeria, one of Africa’s most prospective yet underexplored areas hosting lithium mineralisation.

Continental Lithium is a Nigerian-based private mining and trading company, incorporated in 2017, which began operations in 2018.

The four Nigerian assets - eight exploration licences and two small-scale mining leases - that comprise the Fonlo, Gbugbu, Iganna and Saki target clusters span about 254 square kilometres in Nigeria’s Oyo and Kwara states, which host widespread artisanal lithium mining.

The assets provide valuable exposure to the rapidly developing Africa-China lithium supply corridor. Since 2021, local miners have been hand-picking and selling spodumene-rich lithium ore to Chinese buyers, demonstrating product quality and market demand.

The West Australian

Grenada citizenship now being marketed in Nigeria by Nigerians:

A Nigerian company with an office in a residential area known for its luxury apartments and duplexes is the latest to be granted a marketing license by the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Committee.

“Notice is hereby given that pursuant to Section 13 of the Grenada Citizenship by Investment Act, 2013, VTA Global Services, Block 4 Osborn Foreshore, Ikoyi Lagos, Nigeria, has been granted the license of a Marketing Agent and is therefore authorised to conduct business in the State of Grenada, pursuant to the terms and conditions specified in the said Grenada Citizenship by Investment Act, 2013,” said a notice published in the 21 November 2025 edition of the Government Gazette.

Signed by Thomas Anthony, Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Migration Agency (IMA), the license, which came into effect as of 3 November, states that the Agent License number GCBI-MA-094.

A Google search for the address of the company shows that Block 4, Osborne Foreshore in Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria, is a residential area with a variety of properties, including luxury apartments and duplexes. Properties in this area are known for being high-end, secure, and amenity-rich, with options for sale and rent that often include features such as waterfront access, private security, and recreational facilities.

Besides Grenada, its website shows that it offers global citizenship services to St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda and the Dominican Republic. “We provide expert team to create great value for immigration. Our certified and reliable Immigration Consultant professionals can help you get a positive decision on your case. We provide immigration services in all countries.”

Data published by the CBI Unit, which was rebranded the IMA in 2024, shows that a significant number of people granted Grenada citizenship through the CBI are from Nigeria, one of the West African nations targeted by the IMA.

Now Grenada

Good piece on Ladi Kwali. I came to a renewed appreciation of her work after I visited the Nigerian Modernism exhibition at the Tate Modern:

When Ladi Kwali was alive, her genius was recognized in Nigeria and internationally. She was the most famous potter of her community, and her work was collected by an emir. She toured the world with her handmade Gbari pottery, demonstrating how she made it in front of big crowds and wowing audiences with her skill and the motifs — lizards, scorpions and geometric patterns — on her pots.

But her work, and her words, did not reach her international audiences directly. She was taken to Europe and the United States for demonstration tours by the English potter Michael Cardew, whom scholars have criticized; one, Lisa Bagley, described him as “a gatekeeper between African ceramists and Western audiences.” As a senior potter officer of the Nigerian colonial government, Cardew employed her, worked alongside her and learned from her, and introduced her to glazing, wheel throwing and kiln firing. Internationally, Kwali (1925-1984) and her work was mediated through him, and much of what we know of her comes through his papers and his biographer, Tanya Harrod.

So the exhibition “Body Vessel Clay: Black Women, Ceramics & Contemporary Art,” where her work is presented largely among other Black women working in clay, feels like a revelation — a far clearer picture of one of Nigeria’s most famous but least seen and understood artists.

This U.S. debut of the exhibit, on view at the Ford Foundation Gallery until Dec. 6, coincides with the centenary of Kwali’s birth. The curator, Jareh Das, has spent years gathering information about Kwali’s life, personality and work, which has long been obscured, despite her fame.

Kwali’s face is on the 20 naira note — the only woman on Nigerian currency — but, as Das notes, she “holds a paradoxical position in Nigeria.” Though her name is well known there, her work is not, as most of it is in Western museums. And because she was a woman from Northern Nigeria and was not formally educated, she was excluded from Nigerian modernist discourse. That is changing, fortunately, with this exhibition and with her inclusion in major international shows like the continuing “Nigerian Modernism”exhibition at the Tate Modern in London.

New York Times

Twitter making public the location information on user profiles has turned out to be quite an interesting week for Nigeria:

Both Maga Nation, which has nearly 400,000 followers and posts multiple times a day, and the similarly named MagaNationX, which boasts the rather unlettered slogan, ‘Patriot Voice For We The People’, have been traced to Eastern Europe.

Then there is ULTRAMAGATRUMP2028, which claims to hail from Washington DC but turns out to be based in Africa. Dark Maga, which presents as an ultra-conservative voice, is posting from Thailand; MAGA Scope, with more than 51,000 followers, operates from Nigeria; and TRUMP_ARMY_ , with more than half a million followers, hails from India.

[…]

Meanwhile, the hugely popular Yookay Aesthetics, with 51,000 followers, which claims to hail from Bradford, is based in South America. And the now-deleted ReformWatford - with the tagline, ‘we can’t go on like this’ - posted from Nigeria.

Daily Mail

A very sad story:

A former refugee has appeared in court charged with murder of a Nigerian man in a shared student accommodation block.

Congolese national Benjamin Katabana, 27, is accused of stabbing to death Ucheena Okirie at Somerleyton House, Norfolk, on Saturday.

Social media accounts describe Mr Okirie, 33, as having been a post graduate student at the University of East Anglia’s School of International Development from 2021.

Katabana, who came to the UK as a boy with his family and wore a blue sweatshirt in the dock, spoke only to confirm his name, his date of birth and his address at Somerleyton House during the two-minute hearing.

[…]

Mr Okirie was pronounced dead at the scene, and a post mortem established that he had died from a stab wound to the chest.

His LinkedIn profile described him as an international student ambassador to Nigeria and an economics graduate from the University of Agriculture in Abeokuta.

His studies are said have included preparing a report on climate change and health outcomes in sub Saharan African countries.

Daily Mail

Enjoy the week’s selection below and see you (for the last time in 2025) next week

Nigerian Media

What does one even say to this?

OGOJA – A middle aged man whose name was given as Ulim Lobe was forced into a coffin with a corpse over claims that he was responsible for the death of the man in the coffin.

The incident which happened on Monday in the village of Inyanya in northern Cross River, Bekwara Local Government Area has left many people aghast over the perpetration of such act said to have been carried out by youths of the community.

In the video footage, the man who was dressed in a trouser and grey shirt was made to lie face down on top of the corpse which was covered in a white cloth while his face was painted with a white substance

When Vanguard visited the community located along the Ogoja-Obudu highway which is about three hundred and fifty away kilometres away from Calabar, Theresa Abibu, a teacher in the community school said the incident actually happened.

‘The man was accused of being behind the death of the man in the coffin. There have been too many deaths in the community in recent time so when findings were made and Ulim was found to be the culprit behind the man’s death, he was made to have a taste of the broth he made. Even if he was brought out, he was as good as dead”.

She said the community elders and youths felt that was the best way to go to reduce the frequent deaths in the area attributed to witchcraft and other diabolical acts.

“The family of the man was in support because they are the ones at the recieving end of witchcraft acts – they are the ones dying and infact the late man was a family member of the man”

Vanguard

Update on the volatility of food prices in Nigeria. Note what they blame for the crime of lower food prices:

He said with the current price of N20,000 per bag, what he will get if he sells the 30 bags is only N600,000.

According to him, he suffered a loss of N800,000, adding that the low price of maize has crippled his plan to embark on irrigation farming this season.

“I don’t have money to invest in irrigation farming this season, and what I lost in the post-harvest is a wrong signal to farming activities because it is no longer profitable,” he said.

Another farmer, Nuhu Dauda, in Mutum Biyu area, Gassol Local Government Area, told Daily Trust that his saving grace was melon seeds and soya beans, which he harvested and gained a profit from.

He said however he realized only forty percent of what he invested in his rice and maize farms.

Dauda revealed that during the wet season, he invested three million Naira from planting to harvest in his rice and maize farms, but the market price was very disappointing.

He said with the current price of Maize and Paddy Rice at between N28,000 to N20,000 per bag, he will only get forty-five percent of what he invested in the farms.

“My relief was that I did not borrow money from the bank or from an individual to invest in the farm, and I would have been in trouble now.

“With what is happening, farmers will only concentrate on cash crops and abandon production of food crops next farming season, and it will have serious implications for food security in the North,” he said.

Lawal Suleiman, another farmer, also told Daily Trust that he suffered losses this harvesting period.

According to him, the post-harvest price of farm produce has brought misfortune to the farmers because of the crash of the price of farm produce, especially Maize and Rice.

He said the current price of paddy Rice and Maize was far below the expectations of the farmers, pointing out that Rice and maize farmers have lost over fifty percent of their investment.

Suleiman lamented that farmers bought fertilizer at N48,000 per bag and also paid high for labour and other farm inputs, yet the price of farm produce was very low, and no assistance was rendered to farmers either by the Federal or State government.

He accused the Federal government of importing rice and maize, which brought down the price of the commodities in Nigeria.

Daily Trust

Hisbah is working in Kano:

The Kano State Hisbah Board has arrested seven people for allegedly engaging in immoral activities at a joint along Zoo Road in Kano metropolis.

The Board’s Deputy Commander-General, Mujahideen Aminudeen, disclosed this in a statement made available to The Punch on Wednesday.
Aminudeen said the arrests were made on Tuesday night following complaints from residents.

“I am happy to announce that our operatives were lucky to arrest seven pimps in a joint at Zoo Road in Kano, where young women and men gather together and engage in all sorts of immoral acts,” he said.

Aminudeen explained that while some suspects were from Kano, others hailed from Bauchi and Kogi states, adding that “the most disturbing thing is that the oldest among them is 23 years.”

He revealed that operatives also apprehended a teenage boy and a young girl found in a compromising situation inside a tricycle.

“We also arrested another girl who returned to Kano after she was repatriated to her home town in Sokoto State,” he added.

According to him, the total number of suspects arrested now stands at 10, and they will be charged to court after investigations.

Punch

Zlatan Ibile reveals his favourite asset class. Is this somehow inspired by his pre-music career?:

Nigerian rapper, Omoniyi Temidayo Raphael, popularly known as Zlatan Ibile, has said he would rather buy a house than invest in an upcoming artiste who may not become famous, citing the rising cost of music promotion as a major reason for his stance.

In an interview on the Afrobeats Podcast, the ‘Zanku’ hitmaker compared today’s environment with the earlier years of the industry, when costs were more modest and investors, including those outside music were willing to back young acts.

“When the marketing budget wasn’t serious, you still get people that are not into music but invest in labels and help young artistes,” he said.

“They put money into their music to support them, they set up labels for artistes to grow. But right now, the budget is outrageous, so I’d rather buy a house rather than put money on an artistes I’m not sure will blow up.”

Zlatan also reflected on his personal motivations, noting that financial stability remains the core reason he makes music.

“The reason I make music is for financial stability. My goal is to be responsible and financially secure. At the beginning of my career, I wasn’t balanced and suffered from pressure and anxiety,” he added.

Known for hit records including ‘Zanku’, ‘Shotan’, ‘Lagos Anthem’, ‘Omo Ologo’ and ‘Let There Be Light’, Zlatan rose to prominence after releasing his debut studio album in 2019. Before achieving fame, he worked as a bricklayer.

Tribune

A man imprisoned for theft in Adamawa has some regrets:

A 24-year-old man, Usama Abdullahi, has lamented that his three girlfriends, for whom he stole packs of noodles, did not visit him in prison.

The man made his confession before the Adamawa State Jail Delivery Committee, a special mobile court constituted to review certain cases with a view to decongesting correctional centres

On his appearance before the committee, Usama Abdullahi, a resident of Shelleng, said he stole packs of instant noodles and distributed to his three girlfriends and ran off to another town, Shani, where he was arrested.

He recalled that after a court sent him to prison, none of the said girlfriends visited him.

Daily Post

Non-Nigerian Media

Big NYT investigation into how lead is being recycled in Nigeria for export to the US, thereby outsourcing the environmental damage. This story made me sad in so many ways not least of all that, out of all the things in this world that a poor country like Nigeria can export to the US, this is the one that is happening:

Residents recounted efforts to pressure the factories to improve — visits made, complaints lodged. As far back as 2018, the local newspaper Business Day wrote about lead pollution in Ogijo. Factory managers often apologized and promised improvements, residents said. Sometimes, the companies would string up electrical lines and add streetlights to make amends. But the pollution continued.

Despite the king’s exasperation, the real power resides with leaders in the capital, Abuja. “The government always says, ‘No, no, no, just give them time. Let’s get them to change,’” the king said.

Besides, his subjects wanted the factories clean, not closed. Ogijo is full of people who spend their days coaxing sustenance from meager opportunities. Children gather shreds of plastic that their mothers wash and sell to recyclers. Men squat in the dirt, using rocks to split open old wiring to extract copper.

Across Africa, governments have had little awareness of the harms of battery recycling, instead focusing on jobs and foreign investment, said Andreas Manhart, a senior researcher at Oeko-Institut, a German environmental organization. He has visited at least 20 African factories.

New York Times

From a book review about Paul McCartney’s life:

Wings, the core of which was formed by the McCartneys and Denny Laine (the Moody Blues’ former guitarist), and augmented by various sidemen, followed a wandering star that took them to many interesting places, none more so than, in 1973, a recording studio in Lagos, Nigeria. Mr. McCartney recalls pilots scanning the jungle in search of the airport and wondering (there was no instrument guidance), “is that it over there?” They were greeted by “millions of bugs.” A half-dozen assailants later robbed the McCartneys. A bronchial spasm sent the maestro to hospital.

WSJ

Benin and Nigeria is losing the skill of bronze casters:

Using long iron tongs, Victor Uinmwen Aduwe and Matthew Mathias pick a blazing pot from a fire and pour a thick golden liquid into a partly buried mould, using a centuries-old technique that still flourishes in Nigeria’s south.

After a short cooling period, the mould is dug up and opened, revealing three small bronze heads fashioned after an ancient monarch of the erstwhile kingdom of Benin in Nigeria’s Edo State.

The Edo capital, Benin City, has been renowned for centuries as the heart of bronze and brass craftsmanship.

Its most famous emblems are statues and plaques that adorned the royal palace and were looted after British forces captured the city in 1897.

They are scattered in museums and private collections across the world and Nigeria is now trying to get them back.

[…]

Once flourishing and funded by the Oba, who remains a very influential figure in Edo State, the guild now has only 120 members.

Its head, Aduwe’s uncle, Kingsley Osarhenhen Inneh, 65, acknowledged that “many have left for greener pastures.”

Inneh lamented the soaring cost of materials, with a kilo of brass rising “in less than four years” from 600 naira (40 US cents) to 8,000 ($5.5) -- often salvaged from the carcasses of vehicles.

Inneh said he would welcome financial aid to buy modern equipment to increase output and ease the work.

After working as an engineer all his life, the retiree is counting on his two sons, one of whom is a lawyer, to take over from him.

AFP

One of Texas’ favourite department stores now sells Nigerian Star:

Texans statewide can now get a taste of Nigerian alcohol at their local H-E-B grocery store.

Star Beer, a brand of Nigerian beer, is being sold at 145 H-E-B locations across the state, according to African Beers USA, an African import company. The group stated in an email that the drink made its way into Texas’ iconic chain grocery store through community outreach, drink tastings and direct engagement with consumers

According to the beer company’s website, the lager was first introduced in 1949 in Nigeria, and eventually made its way into U.S. markets in 2016. Beginning then, the drink could be found in Californian liquor stores, bars and restaurants.

The beverage is made with water, malted barley, hops, malted sorghum and sucrose.

Those looking to buy Star Beer can use the company’s beer locator to find where it’s being sold.

Houston Chronicle

Nigeria’s skit economy is booming:

Short comedy videos circulating on social media have created a booming industry in Nigeria in the past few years. The country’s comedy creators put their skits out on platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram to reach a massive audience.

As these online comedians gain followers they make their money from advertising, by endorsing brands as influencers, and through collaborations. In Nigeria the industry is popularly called the skit economy.

This phenomenon represents more than a major new entertainment trend. It highlights the ingenuity of young Nigerians in using technology to create livelihoods and influence culture. In the process, they contribute to national economic growth.

The skit industry has joined the likes of Nollywood film, Afrobeats music and local fashion to put the country on the entertainment map globally.

The rise of the industry is chronicled in the 2024 book Skit Economy: How Nigeria’s Comedy Skit-Makers Are Redefining Africa’s Digital Content Landscape, by entrepreneurship scholar and polling guru Bell Ihua. His work is supported by findings from the Africa Polling Institute.

As he explains: The Nigerian entertainment industry is undoubtedly creating job opportunities and contributing to the country’s diversification from oil … The industry is rated as the second most significant employer of youths in Nigeria after agriculture, employing over one million people.

According to his book, skit-making is estimated to be Nigeria’s third largest entertainment industry sector, with a net worth of over US$31 million.

Scroll

New Tems out in the wild:

Tems is back with new music. The Nigerian artist has released Love Is a Kingdom, a surprise seven-song EP that follows last year’s Born in the Wild. Find it below.

Tems produced, composed, and wrote Love Is a Kingdom almost entirely on her own. The EP is released via RCA Records and Since ’93.

Tems was nominated for Best Global Music Album at the 2025 Grammy Awards for Born in the Wild. She was also nominated for Best R&B Song, for the album’s “Burning,” and she won Best African Music Performance, for “Love Me JeJe.”

Pitchfork

How did Seun Akinboboye convince Taylar Wade to move across America to be with him after just 4 months of dating?

On the eve of his 33rd birthday in November 2021, Seun Olawole Akinboboye was at the rooftop bar at the Ace Hotel in Chicago, now closed, when he saw a woman beckoning to him.

“It was so emphatic and so confident that I just decided to walk over,” said Mr. Akinboboye, who pronounces his first name Shay-oon. The woman was the best friend of Taylar Dorthea McFadden Wade.

“I told her, ‘I need to meet this guy — that’s my husband,’” Ms. Wade said. “She played wingwoman, brought him over and introduced us, and we talked the rest of the night.”

The day after Ms. Wade met Mr. Akinboboye, she flew to her hometown, Greensboro, N.C. At the time, she was working remotely between Chicago and Greensboro and was unsure of where she wanted to live. In early December, she returned to Chicago for a first date with Mr. Akinboboye at Flight Club, a bar and eatery where people play darts.

“We were talking so much that we never got around to the darts,” Ms. Wade said.

Over the next several months, Ms. Wade returned to Chicago for weeks at a time, staying with a friend while building a relationship with Mr. Akinboboye. One evening, Ms. Wade, who has Type 1 diabetes, had an emergency and needed to go to the hospital.

Mr. Akinboboye accompanied her and communicated with her mother throughout.

“My mom was very impressed because Seun was doing everything she would have done,” Ms. Wade said. “Her ideal dream is someone who’ll take care of me the same way she would, and the fact that he did that so early in our relationship put her at ease.”

Mr. Akinboboye, 37, is a finance director at a facilities services company based in Tampa, Fla. He was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, and grew up in Teaneck, N.J., and later in Roslyn, N.Y. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from N.Y.U., a master’s degree in management from Wake Forest University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

[…]

In February 2022, three months into their relationship, Mr. Akinboboye was offered a job as an investment banking associate in San Francisco. He asked Ms. Wade if she would move there with him.

“I’d never asked anyone to move in with me or to move across the country with me,” Mr. Akinboboye said. “In my mind, there was a 99 percent likelihood that she would say no. But the 1 percent chance she’d say yes was too enticing.”

New York Times

So this story made into the International media, SMH:

This is the dramatic moment social media influencers exchanged punches while boarding a flight in Nigeria.

The clash occurred on United Nigeria Airlines flight UN0523 between online star Matins Otse, known as Very Dark Man (VDM), and comedian Freedom Atsepoyi, also known as Mr Jollof, on Monday.

Airline spokesman Chibuike Uloka said the confrontation erupted during boarding at Asaba International Airport that morning.

Footage shows the pair trading blows in the aisle of the Airbus A320 as holidaymakers looked on in disbelief.

Some passengers stepped in to try and separate the pair, who were locked in a tight clinch.

Uloka said: ‘In full compliance with global aviation safety protocols, our crew responded immediately and professionally to de-escalate the situation.

‘Both passengers were de-boarded without delay to ensure the safety, comfort, and security of all other passengers and crew members.’

Daily Mail

Our podcast with Oyeronke Oyebanji is still available for free so do check it out before it goes behind the paywall.

Enjoy the week’s selection below

Nigerian Media

A feature piece on how so many Nigerians fall victims to online scams in Nigeria. A reminder that the same problem exported is also a domestic one:

When Ahmed Idris stumbled upon pictures of some healthy looking goats on a Facebook marketplace, he thought he had found a good deal and a dream-come- true. At N60,000 each, the animals looked perfect for the small livestock farm he had long wanted to start in Bwari, a suburb of Abuja. The seller, who claimed to be a fellow Edo man and a farmer in Kebbi State, spoke convincingly, shared videos and promised swift delivery. Trusting his “brother,” Ahmed sent a deposit of N130,000 for five goats.

Days passed. The goats never came. Calls went unanswered. Then the seller vanished, deleting his account and blocking Ahmed on every platform. That was when Ahmed realised that he had fallen prey to one of the many fake online vendors scamming unsuspecting Nigerians daily.

Narrating his ordeal, Ahmed said: “I messaged the number on WhatsApp and discussed the goats I saw on Facebook. They looked okay; and when I asked for the price, he told me that each goat cost N60,000. He said he was based in Kebbi State. The person also told me that he was a farmer and had 17 acres of land in Kebbi State, which was given to him by his in-law to farm.”

Ahmed said his conversation became familiar with the vendor, and along the line, in his bid to gain his trust, claimed to be from Edo State, the same state as his victim.

“He said I should not worry about placing my order, saying he was taking stock at the time to deliver in Kogi State, and if I could order at that particular time, he would put my order alongside to be delivered to me. I agreed and he eventually sent me an account number to transfer the money.

“He charged me N160,000 for three goats but asked me to pay half of the money as an advance, which is N80,000. It was a Kuda Bank account with the name, Ekhayemhe Omokhoa.

He said that after making the payment, one of his bosses at work was curious to know the transaction he was doing and was also enthralled by the look of the healthy animals, so he indicate interest in buying two goats.

“I called the vendor back and told him that my boss was also interested and he said that since it was through me, he should pay N50, 000 for each as a discount. That was how we sent him another N50,000 as advance payment, making N130,000 in total,” he said.

He said that after the payment began the long wait to receive their goods, which never happened.

“He told me that the animals would come the following Monday, but I have been calling him till today and he has not picked his calls. When I began to confront him on the social media, he blocked my contact so that I would not reach him again,” he said.

Daily Trust

We did F.O.O.D pieces on wheat and sugar, two of the main ingredients that go into bread making. It should not be surprising then that many bakeries are closing down since artificially increasing the price of these products will automatically lower their demand. So the remaining consumers will continue to be squeezed:

The president of the Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria (PBAN), Engr. Onuorah Emmanuel, has raised the alarm over the worsening economic conditions crippling the baking industry.

He revealed that more than half of bakeries belonging to his members alone have shut down in recent years due to skyrocketing production costs, high interest rates, and insecurity.

Speaking during the PBAN Day Out 2025 held in Lagos with the theme: “The Business of Baking: Pathways to Profit, Productivity and Growth,” Emmanuel painted a bleak picture of the sector, lamenting that bakers are battling multiple economic pressures that threaten their survival and the livelihoods of thousands of Nigerians.

He stated that after the COVID-19 pandemic, most bakery owners found it extremely difficult to

“The finances are stifling us; interest rates are astronomical. You can’t go to the bank and get a single-digit loan. All their loans are above 30 per cent. How does any business survive with that?” he asked.

According to the PBAN President, the breadmaking industry has suffered massive contraction since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Out of over 140,000 bakeries operating before 2020, he said, less than 60,000 remain functional today.

Daily Trust

Fake cocoa farmer is a new entry in our encyclopaedia of fake things in Nigeria:

The Ondo State Police Command said it would arraign a suspect, Ilegbami Jacob, for allegedly falsely presenting himself as a cocoa farmer to obtain the sum of N36m from one Sunday Adegboyo, with a promise to supply 5.5 tons of cocoa beans, which he failed to deliver.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, Olayinka Ayanlade, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

Ayanlade noted that the suspect was arrested following a petition from the victim, who narrated that the suspect had failed to deliver on their agreement.

Following the petition, Ayanlade noted that police operatives tracked the suspect to his hideout in Akure, the state capital, after he had fled from the victim.

Ayanlade added, “Investigation revealed that in July 2025, the complainant entered into a business agreement with the suspect, who falsely presented himself as a cocoa merchant. Under this guise, he collected N36m from the victim with a promise to supply 5.56 tons of cocoa beans, but failed to deliver and subsequently absconded to an unknown destination, giving false assurances that the goods would be supplied from Taraba State.

“Leveraging technology and the expertise of the command’s Scorpion Squad, operatives identified and traced the suspect to his hideout in Akure, where he was arrested.”

Punch

A very funny story from he frontline of the economy:

The economic downturn has hit furniture lovers. But it appears it’s hitting furniture makers the more.

Considering the unfriendly cost of making even a moderate sofa or refurbish old ones, many homes now go for seat covers, leaving furniture makers groaning for lack of patronage.

To even cut cost the more, some people buy chair fabrics and have a tailor make the covers for them, instead of buying already made ones.

According to Lukeman Ogedengbe, a furniture maker, this has reduced patronage, to the extent he hardly makes two sofas in a month.

“People no longer repair damaged sofas talk of making new ones.

“They have resorted to buying sofa covers.

“It is not only me. Many of my colleagues in the field are complaining.

“It is not the fault of furniture makers that the price of furniture, especially sofas, is high.

“Look around you, the prices of production materials in every manufacturing field have increased.

Vanguard

Looks like terrorists in Adamawa will not be able to get high for the foreseeable future:

Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have arrested a suspected major drug supplier to Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists in Adamawa State.

The suspect, Zubairu Muhammad, 45, was apprehended around 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday by soldiers of the 232 Battalion in Uba.

Security sources told Zagazola Makama that Muhammad is believed to have supplied cannabis sativa and crystal meth, also known as ICE, to terrorists through the Askira-Uba, Chibok, Michika, and Damboa corridors.

Authorities recovered 14 blocks of cannabis valued at over N1 million and 43 grams of ICE worth more than N3 million from Muhammad.

He was also found with two Army camouflage T-shirts, which he allegedly used while delivering drugs to the terrorist groups.

Daily Post

Non-Nigerian Media

A story about the bizarre rise of “luxury” multimillion dollar homes in Lagos and how they are reshaping the city’s skyline:

Ultra-luxury homes in Lagos sell for 2.2 billion naira ($1.5 million) to 9 billion naira, while in Abuja, prices hover around 5 billion naira, according to brokers and developers Bloomberg spoke with. Public data on real estate transactions is limited, making precise market valuations difficult to verify.

Rental yields range from 4% to 7%, according to Estate Intel senior analyst Dapo Runsewe — comparable to global luxury hubs such as Los Angeles, New York and Dubai. Those yields, coupled with high returns on investment, are attracting buyers, said Contemporary’s Ifeadi. “A lot of what’s happening in Lagos is being driven by big-time entrepreneurs trying to cash in,” he said.

A younger cohort of buyers is also entering the market. Real estate agents in Abuja say many purchasers of multibillion-naira homes are younger professionals in government and tech.

In Lagos, the younger crowd is also shifting away from Banana Island, the country’s most expensive enclave built on reclaimed swamp. For instance, Alexander Avenue in Ikoyi, “is now populated mainly by buyers between 35 and 40,” said Ifeadi. “Many are IT entrepreneurs, buying both as homes and investments.”

Bloomberg

Detective Sergeant Nonso Anidi was sacked from the Police force but is appealing the decision:

A black Metropolitan Police officer who claimed a colleague called him a “dodgy Nigerian” lied about the case to pervert an employment grievance procedure, a gross misconduct hearing has ruled.

Detective Sergeant Nonso Anidi, 39, was sacked but is appealing the decision.

“I am a clean and honest person,” he told the Standard.

He called on the force’s watchdog to investigate conversations between senior officers ahead of his dismissal.

DS Anidi had a meeting with boss Inspector Chris Thompson, who is white, and had been challenged over overtime requests in March 2023.

Insp Thompson was accused of making a racial slur, which he denied, but had secretly recorded their conversation.

Commander Jason Prins, who chaired a disciplinary panel, believed his line manager used the word “dodgy” when referring to DS Anidi’s booking of annual leave on the Met’s internal system.

However, the word “Nigerian” was not heard throughout, Cmdr Prins concluded, although he accepted the inspector’s recording did not capture the meeting’s entirety.

The Standard

A giant container of cocaine recently showed up in Lagos. Investigations are ongoing:

The drugs found in a container at a port in Lagos is one of the largest drug seizures in Nigeria’s history.

Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said Tuesday it is working with its US and British counterparts to investigate the origins of one of the country’s largest drug hauls.

Authorities recovered a ton of cocaine from a container at Lagos’ Tincan Island Port.

The shipment, worth more than 338 billion naira ($235 million, €232 million), was discovered during a joint inspection last weekend.

Officials described it as the largest single seizure of cocaine at Tincan Island Port.

Global investigation to find drug smugglers

NDLEA says officers from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) “have already joined the ongoing investigation to track the cartel behind the consignment.”

DW

A fight between Boko Haram and rival terrorist groups has left 200 of them dead. Sorry about that:

As many as 200 terrorists were killed in a turf war on Sunday between rival jihadists in north-east Nigeria.

The fighting between Boko Haram and rival militants from Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) broke out over the weekend in the village of Dogon Chiku, which lies on the shores of Lake Chad, a restive area located at the junction of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

The lake’s riverine corridors serve as operational zones for jihadists who also bank on revenues from taxing fishers, loggers and herders.

The violent episode was the latest in a fight between the groups for territory and influence as more non-state actors stake a claim for dominance in the wider Sahel region. According to reports, Iswap reportedly incurred more personnel losses and several boats used in the assault were seized by Boko Haram forces.

“From the toll we got, around 200 Iswap terrorists were killed in the fight,” Babakura Kolo, a member of a vigilante group that works with the Nigerian military, told Agence France-Presse.

“We are aware of the fighting which is good news to us,” AFP also quoted a Nigerian intelligence source as saying. The source added that the casualty total was “more than 150”.

Guardian

A fascinating paragraph I saw in John McWhorter’s latest NYT piece about a new book about the slave trade and the role of African traders in it:

The slaves are long gone, but the languages they brought into being are still very much alive, and point to a birth specifically on the Ghanaian coast in slave trading castles. The history is there in practically every sentence. Slaves were taken from a vast stretch of the West African coast, from Senegal through Ghana down to Angola, regions where languages differ as much as French, Japanese and Arabic. Yet all of the “patois” varieties of the Caribbean have grammatical patterns based on the languages spoken in one place: the areas of modern-day Ghana where the slave castles were situated. There’s something else that binds them together: All of them use variations on “unu,” a second-person plural pronoun that is found only in the Igbo language of Nigeria, spoken on that same coast. (Here in America, Gullah speakers say “hunnuh.”)

New York Times

Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson are two of the best in the business when it comes to reporting about Nigeria. In the WSJ they have a very good piece on how Nigeria came to the attention of President Trump and everything thereafter:

Nigeria’s aging leader awoke on Nov. 2 in the sprawling presidential Aso Rock villa for a morning routine that included a freshly brewed shot of espresso, a doctor taking his vital signs and an aide delivering a two-page executive summary on the myriad threats facing Africa’s most-populous nation.

The top item, Nigerian officials said, on President Bola Tinubu’s briefing: A Truth Social post from President Trump the day before, threatening to send the U.S. military into Nigeria, “guns-a-blazing,” to stop what he characterized as the mass slaughter of Christians.

Less than 48 hours earlier, U.S. officials said, Trump had been watching Fox News aboard Air Force One, descending toward Palm Beach International Airport, when host John Roberts led a segment chronicling the killings of Christians by militants in Nigeria: “Does this president need to do more?” he asked.

Shortly after Trump’s social-media post, the Pentagon commissioned war plans, U.S. officials said.

Tinubu, Nigeria’s bespectacled 73-year-old leader, was shocked by the saber-rattling from one of his country’s most important partners.

Nigeria’s president now asked if there was any way to reach and reason with America’s commander in chief, Nigerian officials said. How, Tinubu quizzed his befuddled aides, had this idea reached the U.S. president? And how could Nigeria set the record straight?

WSJ

Dr. Olubunmi has been struck off the medical register:

A doctor has been struck off after he invented a fake landlord and fictional tenancy agreement as part of a £12,000 housing benefits scam.

King’s College Hospital doctor Olubunmi Adeagbo-Sheikh told the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) that he was renting a London property.

Adeagbo-Sheikh, who is in his 40s, actually lived with his mother in Swanley, Kent but fraudulently claimed £900 a month for his fictitious home in the capital - at an address that didn’t exist.

He was able to maintain the deception for 13 months between September 2018 and September 2019, collecting £11,700 in total.

He pleaded guilty to dishonestly making a false statement to obtain a benefit, advantage or payment in February 2024 and avoided jail time.

Now Dr Adeagbo-Sheikh has been removed from the medical register, with the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service calling his ‘deliberate’ fraud ‘fundamentally incompatible with his continued registration’.

Dr Adeagbo-Sheikh qualified with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery in 2013 in Nigeria, and worked as a locum doctor there before moving to the UK in 2016.

Daily Mail

As you know by now, any story out of the Indian media featuring a Nigerian can never be a good one. Article also includes a photo of them escorting him to the airport:

He discontinued his studies due to financial difficulties and began associating with drug offenders, allegedly acting as a courier for a Nigerian-based supplier.

Officials said he supplied narcotic substances in Bengaluru and Hyderabad on commission to earn easy money and maintain a lavish lifestyle. His student visa expired on April 21, 2024, but he continued to stay illegally in India.

The H-NEW arrested him while he was on a move with a known peddler in Banjara Hills. Although no drugs were found in Onyeukwu’s possession, he failed to provide valid documents or a reasonable explanation for his stay. During questioning, he admitted to overstaying in India after his visa had expired.

Following this, H-NEW initiated deportation proceedings with the help of the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), Hyderabad. An exit permit was issued, and Onyeukwu was blacklisted from re-entering India. He was deported from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in the early hours of November 12.

The Hindu

Meanwhile here in London:

Members of an organised crime group have been jailed for total of more than 55 years following a Met Police investigation into a series of robberies at mobile phone shops across London.

Between September and November 2024, detectives from the Met’s Flying Squad worked to identify and arrest members of an organised crime group responsible for at least 13 offences.

The group targeted mostly EE stores, using threats of violence to force staff to open secure stock rooms before making off with high-value mobile phones and other devices. In total, they stole items with a total value of £240,000.

The investigation involved painstaking analysis of CCTV footage, forensic evidence, and mobile phone data.

[…]

The following defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, 30 January:

James Adodo, (05.09.00), of St Martins Road, Dartford, Kent, was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.

David Akintola, (20.05.00), of Samuel Street, Woolwich, was sentenced to six years and six months’ imprisonment.

Michael Babo, (15.07.00), of Gilbert Close, Woolwich, was sentenced to six years and 10 months’ imprisonment.

Robert Hills, (09.08.04), of Mayfield Road, Gravesend, Kent, was sentenced to five years and three months’ imprisonment.

Ayomide Olaribiro, (29.04.03), of Warrior Square, Manor Park, was sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment.

Nelson Joel, (09.09.97), of St Martins Road, Dartford, Kent, was sentenced to three years and three months’ imprisonment.

Olabiyi Obasa, (06.04.96), of Norfolk Close, Dartford, Kent, was sentenced to three years and six months’ imprisonment.

David Okewole, (29.08.01), of Vale Road, Northfleet, Kent, was sentenced to seven years and six months’ imprisonment.

Metropolitan Police

It was just Tobi and I on the podcast this week where we talked about Trump and F.O.O.D

Enjoy the week’s selection below

Nigerian Media

Dauda Choji has been farming strawberries in Jos since democracy returned to Nigeria in 1999. He shares some of the things he’s learnt:

Although Mr. Choji is a civil servant, he spends every free moment he has on the farm providing guidance to his workers. During weekends, he is always on the farm to monitor every development.

His farm is also attracting foreign visitors. During the Miss Tourism Africa contest, which was hosted in Jos, the Plateau State Capital, contestants from different countries visited the farm and were excited to pick and eat strawberries.

Dauda told Daily Trust he has gotten an off-taker for his produce, but will also welcome more, solving his marketing puzzle.

After many years of follow-up stories, strawberry production is growing stronger in the Chaha community.

“Almost all the boys that I have trained have farms that are almost competing with mine. I am happy that they watched the way I did things, and they adopted the same method, and they are succeeding. I am so happy,” he said.

For those who want to start a strawberry farm, the farmer advises that knowledge, patience, and attention are very important.

“If you don’t have the time, expertise, and a good source of water, you cannot have a successful production. That is why I sank a lot of boreholes here and powered them with the solar systems and said bye-bye to fuel. I was told these systems can last for a minimum of 20 years.

“Apart from my office hours, every other time I have, I spend it on the farm,” he concluded.

Daily Trust

Interesting story about traders realising something that’s really bad for business:

Traders at the Makurdi Modern Market in Benue State protested what they described as incessant cases of car theft in the market.

The traders decided to shut down the market on Tuesday, alleging that car theft had become rampant in the market.

The traders called on the government to investigate the multiple reports of stolen vehicles in the market.

As of the time our correspondent visited the market, the main entrance gate was locked while traders, policemen, and other security operatives were seen outside discussing the situation.

People who came to the market to transact business were stranded as they could not access the market.

The traders insisted that they would not open the market for business for the next two days to register their grievances over the persistent theft of vehicles and other items by suspected thieves.

One of the traders, who identified himself as Mazi Ezenna, told journalists that there was hardly a day that the market union would not receive a report of car theft.

Ezenna said, “We are tired of complaining about this issue of insecurity in the market. There is no security at all. We have spoken to the government through the state Ministry of Industry.

“Just imagine, between September and November 1, no fewer than six vehicles were stolen from the market. The customer will drive his or her vehicle to the market, park it, go purchase goods, and the next thing, the car is no longer there.

“We, the traders, have lost so many cars this year in the market. So, we have decided to stay off the market for two days to enable us to think of what to do next, and for the government to provide security in and around the market.”

Punch

Another story from the economic frontlines:

However, the economic downturn has brought many things back to old ways of life. The cost of buying baby food, just as other products is not for the financially-weak.

A peep into market showed that the cost of baby food like Cereals ranges from N20,000 to N50,000 per tin depending on the brand.

Economy&Lifestyle has discovered that most Nigerian breastfeeding mothers, particularly those with average income are now returning to feeding their babies with homemade meals.

They’re making alternatives like potato, rice, banana, purees, semolina, amala and ewedu (yam flour and jute leaf) soup among other things to feed their infants.

Mrs. Doris Erabor, a factory worker and a nursing mother said: “I make semolina paste, add milk and salt to feed my four-month- old baby. For two months, I couldn’t afford the baby food which price has increased.

“I was very worried because I don’t want to go for new brands which can pose health risk for my child.

“I started feeding him with pap (corn meal). I work at a factory and the pay is not much. A few weeks before resuming work, I was thinking about what kind of food would sustain him because the pap wasn’t helping at all. So, a friend introduced me to semovita and milk.

“This has really helped feed my baby and we are seven months old now.”

Vanguard

Some of these scams are really baffling. I suppose it’s hard for me to understand how people can get taken in by these things:

Operatives of the Ogun State Police command have arrested a woman identified as Elizabeth Thomson for allegedly defrauding three people of N8.5m through fake Canadian work visas.

Recall that the command had raised alarm about the incessant cases of travel and visa scam, fake dating site among others used to swindle victims.

The police spokesperson, Omolola Odutola, on Wednesday, said the suspect under the pretext of securing a Canadian work visa deceived the victims that their visas had been approved.

Odutola said, “The victims narrated that after undergoing biometric verification as instructed by the suspect, they were informed that their visas had been approved.”

According to Odutola, the victims on taking the supposed approval letters to the Visa Facilitation Service office in Lagos for verification, found out that the documents were fake.

She noted that this led to the arrest of the suspect and on interrogation, she confessed to operating a fraudulent migration scheme.

“Upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime. Preliminary investigation revealed that she had been operating a fraudulent migration scheme targeting individuals desperate for employment opportunities abroad,” she stated.

Daily Post

A long read about illegal felling of rosewood and of course exports to China. Never underestimate the capacity of Nigerians to do serious environmental damage in the name of survival:

David Isaac*, another Toungo farmer-turned-logger, tells us he has been at it for 15 years. “I cut trees to feed my family,” he says. “Farming does not pay anymore. This one does.”

In Baruwa, a forest community tucked in the Mambilla Plateau in the Gashaka Local Government Area of neighbouring Taraba State, George Johnson* has been logging for three decades. He first came to Gembu, a cold town on the plateau, to work on people’s farms. But farming paid too little.

“Things were expensive,” he says. Logging was better. Sometimes he harvests eucalyptus for local farmers. Other times, when dealers call, he travels three hours to Baruwa to log rosewood.

[…]

Between 2014 and 2017, an average of 40 shipping containers – about 5,600 logs, or 2,800 trees – left Nigeria for China every single day, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). In 2016 alone, the EIA reported, more than 1.4 million rosewood logs worth $300 million were smuggled into China, despite the species being listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a classification requiring strict permitting and oversight.

[…]

Much of this demand traces back to China’s enduring cultural fascination with rosewood, known as hongmu. Once reserved for emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, rosewood furniture became a coveted status symbol, admired for its deep hues, durability, and capacity for intricate carving. That appetite lives on.

But China’s own forests could not sustain this demand. Large scale logging was banned decades ago. The hunger simply shifted elsewhere. First to Southeast Asia, and more recently to Africa, which now supplies the lion’s share. A 2022 Forest Trends report shows that by 2020, 83 per cent of China’s wood imports came from Africa, while shipments from Southeast Asia declined. CITES data adds that over 41 per cent of China’s rosewood log imports from range states – more than 2.2 million cubic meters worth about $1.037 billion – came from Africa. The scale of demand is staggering: Forest Trends noted that between 2000 and 2015, China’s rosewood imports surged by 1,250 per cent, with the value nearly doubling in a single year between 2013 and 2014, reaching $2.6 billion.

HumAngle

Meanwhile Zambian friends came visiting and had some things to say:

The Zambian government has indicated interest in understudying the operation of the National Values charter, the cornerstone of the proposed Nigerian Identity Project which was earlier approved by the Federal Executive Council, FEC.

However, Zambia pointed out that there is growing concern back at home, particularly among its younger generation, about the dominant themes of rituals, occultism, and superstitions in many Nollywood productions.

This was the outcome of the second meeting between officials of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, led by the Director General, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu and the Zambian High Commission in Nigeria, led by Jenipher Mutembo, Deputy High Commissioner, in Abuja.

Daily Post

Non-Nigerian Media

A story I never expected to read even in my wildest dreams:

Nicki Minaj has defended her decision to share a tweet praising Donald Trump, telling LGBTQ+ fans they are “blinded” by their “personal obsession with Trump” – before deleting her comments.

The rapper had posted a screenshot from Trump’s Truth Social account about violence against Christians in Nigeria, which read: “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a ‘COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.’”

Minaj said the message gave her “a deep sense of gratitude” for living in a country “where we can freely worship God.” She added: “Thank you to The President & his team for taking this seriously.”

Her post triggered backlash from fans who accused her of ignoring Trump’s record on LGBTQ+ rights. One long-time follower wrote: “[N]icki as a die hard fan, who genuinely sticks besides you through every single scandal, you cozying up to this fucking loser, [I] might actually have to tap out. we live in a country that wants to weaponize religion so YOUR GAY FANS can be pushed into a corner and silenced.”

Minaj hit back at the criticism in a reply that was later removed.

“Imagine hearing that Christians are being MURDERED & making it about you being gay,” she wrote. “When my home was swatted multiple times with my innocent toddler inside (with maybe 20 officers with guns drawn pointed at our home due to political corruption), you being gay couldn’t save me. Expecting someone to stay oppressed, abused, targeted, harassed & CONSISTENTLY ignored by public figures who were supposed to be helping them says more about you than it does anyone else.”

Attitude

Update on the internationalisation of Nigerian food:

The historic Dogpool Hotel site in Stirchley is being reborn as Empress, a new Nigerian fine dining restaurant that promises to bring delicious flavours to the heart of Birmingham.

Opening its doors on Saturday 22nd November, the transformation of the long-vacant Dogpool Hotel marks a new chapter for site.

The restaurant is located at 1063 Pershore Road, Birmingham, England B30 2YJ.

[…]

Signature dishes will include Smokey Jollof Rice, Deluxe Fried Rice, Abula, Assorted Meat Peppersoup, Empress Royale Platter VIP Seafood Okro,

Efo Riro, paired with craft cocktails inspired by African ingredients and palm-wine blends.

Birmingham World

Economic development update:

Sheltering from the pitiless sun under large blue umbrellas, several dozen young Nigerian women sporting colourful dresses paraded to the rhythm of drums in a mass wedding on Friday -- an annual rite held in western Nigeria.

This tradition of the mass Awon marriage, organised in the small town of Shao in Kwara State in October, is linked to local mythology.

The story goes that a young hunter from Shao once met a strange woman with a single breast near the river named Awon.

After spending several days with a man from the village, she asked the villagers to set a day each year to commemorate her visit by marrying all girls of a suitable age, to ensure the prosperity of the community.

The goddess then disappeared.

Once dressed in their wedding finery in the palace of the local ruler, the young women parade through the streets of Shao before the mass wedding is blessed by the priest of Awon.

AFP

Ore Oduba says he has finally broken free of a 30 year addiction to porn:

Ore Oduba jived into the nation’s hearts in 2016 when 13 million watched him become the surprise winner of Strictly Come Dancing. He said it was the most incredible experience of his life, and Gene Kelly’s widow, Patricia Ward Kelly, praised the American smooth that he and his dance partner, Joanne Clifton, performed to Singin’ in the Rain, saying her husband would have been proud of it.

That joyful national moment gave the former Newsround presenter a platform to build a career as an actor, mostly in musical theatre, alongside presenting work. But now he has revealed that behind the twinkly smile he was hiding an addiction to pornography that he can trace back to his first exposure to explicit online content when he was just nine years old.

The addiction, he said, destroyed his life “from the inside out”, leaving him consumed by self-loathing and contributing to thoughts of suicide. Oduba, 39, decided to speak out after seeking help for his addiction following the death of his father and the end of his marriage. His addiction was something he had hidden from all those close to him. “It is the perfect taboo,” he says.

An older boy first showed him sexualised images of a video game when he was nine. “I didn’t choose to be in this position. I was a child. I fell into something. [I had] a curious mind. By the time I was 14 or 15, this was a daily occurrence,” Oduba says by video call, choosing not to switch his camera on as he articulates better without the overstimulation of looking at faces. He also prefers to use the phrase “adult explicit content” rather than the word “pornography”, which he finds is “a trigger”.

Oduba grew up in Dorset, where his parents had moved the family from Nigeria in 1988. His father, a lawyer who continued to work in Nigeria, was a strict disciplinarian and after a sibling was caught smoking, Oduba understood that if any of them transgressed further they would be punished by being sent back to the west African country. Oduba went to Canford School, an independent school in Dorset, and then Loughborough University.

The Times

Another piece about British private schools expanding abroad with a section on Nigeria:

As Rugby School Lagos opens its doors for the new academic year, it does so with the financial backing of a billionaire family with close ties to the Nigerian government.

Eko’s developer is the Chagoury Group, a conglomerate founded by tycoon brothers Gilbert and Ronald Chagoury — both fixtures of Nigerian politics and business for decades. Gilbert also paid $1.8 million in 2021 to resolve allegations that he and others provided approximately $180,000 that was used to support four US federal political candidates, in violation of election laws, according to the US Department of Justice.

Neil Hampton, CEO of Rugby School Global, the arm of the school responsible for overseas expansion, told Bloomberg the Chagoury Group approached Rugby in the hope the school would provide “educational expertise” for the Eko Atlantic campus.

After spending time with members of the Chagoury Group in the UK, Rugby’s team were convinced of their viability as business partners. “Clearly the Chagoury Group and Eko Atlantic do understand finance and business but equally they understand the mission — which is about educating young people,” he said.

Rugby gets at least one speculative approach a week from someone interested in opening a school overseas, Hampton said. To sort through the requests, Rugby employs external help.

“A brand which is more than 450 years old like Rugby, which has international schools around the world and a reputation to uphold in the UK — we need to be absolutely clear that the people we’re partnering are the right kinds of people,” said Hampton.

It’s not unusual for the Chagoury family to be supporting a school in this way. The family’s business and philanthropic interests are vast, including funding a nursing school at the Lebanese American University and a gallery at the Louvre established with a Chagoury donation. Gilbert Chagoury is currently serving as the St. Lucian ambassador to the Holy See.

Bloomberg

Latest prisoner to be released in error in Britain is:

Another foreign criminal has escaped from prison, as police admit they have been unable to locate him for almost a month.

Ola Abimbola, a Nigerian national, allegedly walked out of the open prison HMP Ford on October 10 and has not been seen since.

The 36-year-old is currently serving a 21-year sentence for offences including kidnap, GBH and possession of an offensive weapon in public.

He is yet to return to the prison, with Sussex Police saying it is working with partners to find him.

Abimbola is the second foreign national known to be on the run from police, with Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, still at large since he was mistakenly freed from HMP Wandsworth on October 29.

Daily Mail

In the Daily Telegraph, myself and my Formation co-author, Fola Fagbule, had a small intervention on the matter of a “Christian Genocide” in Nigeria:

In the early hours of Sunday, March 15 2015, a village in Nigeria’s middle belt state of Benue became the scene of unspeakable violence. The assault began at 4am, when most villagers were asleep. By dawn, dozens of men, women and children lay dead.

The perpetrators of this atrocity in Egba were Fulani herdsmen – the latest actors in an attritional conflict between itinerant cattle herders and settled farming communities, locked in bitter struggle over dwindling natural resources.

The timing was striking. The massacre occurred just two weeks before Nigeria’s presidential election, pitting Muhammadu Buhari – a Muslim northerner of Fulani extraction – against incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian. Buhari would win not only the presidency but also Benue state, where the attack had occurred mere days before voters went to the polls.

There is something sobering about this sequence. The attack features in the statistics now circulating globally as evidence of a genocide against Christians in northern and central Nigeria – a narrative that has captured the attention of Donald Trump, the US president. It has led him to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and threaten military intervention. One can see why: the victims were almost certainly Christian, the perpetrators Muslim.

Daily Telegraph

A feature on the Museum of West African Art in Benin:

It was a hot afternoon in Benin City, Nigeria, and dozens of construction workers were racing to put the finishing touches on the Museum of West African Art before its opening next week.

Workers fitted out the museum’s auditorium while Nigerian rap music blasted from a radio. Builders sanded down the building’s curved red earth walls. Inside the entrance hall, art workers were busy installing sculptures and paintings.

Phillip Ihenacho, the museum’s director, said during a tour of the site that he hoped the construction would finish on time. “By chaotic Nigerian standards, we’re doing well,” he added.

Many Nigerian artists have long clamored for something like the Museum of West African Art: an institution that can command international attention and host major exhibitions by collaborating with Western peers. Yet the multimillion-dollar development has long stirred controversy in Benin City, not least because it was originally billed as a home for returned Benin Bronzes, masterpieces of African art that British soldiers stole from the ancient Kingdom of Benin in 1897.

For decades, the Nigerian government called for the return of the looted bronzes, a catchall term for artifacts that include intricate brass plaques and carved elephant tusks, which are now scattered across institutions and private collections around the world. Many of those items are hundreds of years old and were once used in royal and religious ceremonies.

New York Times

Last call for our podcast with Bright Simons before it goes behind a paywall. Or you can take out a paid subscription to enjoy our podcast back catalogue.

Enjoy this week’s selection below.

Nigerian Media

This is quite a sad story. I think the worst part is that the farmers only discovered the damage when they went to harvest the sugarcane. That is quite damning of agricultural practices in Nigeria in general and the kind of support farmers can receive or even the education they get:

Many sugarcane plantations in Kano State’s farming communities have been infested by pests, a situation that has pushed farmers in the state into a panic mode. The outbreak, which has affected farms in at least three local government areas, has destroyed many hectares of sugarcane and could cause a drastic drop in production this year.

Farmers who spoke to Weekend Trust in the affected areas described the situation as devastating, saying they only discovered the damage at harvest time.

They estimated losses from the worm attack at N2 billion, warning that many may not return to farming next season if urgent action is not taken.

“We didn’t notice anything until we started harvesting. And by that time it was too late. The worms had eaten deep into almost every sugarcane farm in Dan Hassan, Garin Kaya, Tofa and Gamadan. We never expected the damage to be this bad,” Malam Kawu Hayi, a sugarcane farmer from Kura said.

The damage has been particularly severe in Gamadan town, one of Kano’s largest sugarcane farming and trading hubs. And farmers there rely almost entirely on sugarcane for livelihood; hence many fear that the outbreak could push them into debt and joblessness.

Our correspondent who visited some of the affected communities reports that sugarcane stalks were blackened and eaten from within.

Daily Trust

What a story:

The management of Delta State University, Abraka, has expelled a 200-level student of the Department of Microbiology, Ezi Ugoma, for four semesters over alleged gross misconduct.

Ugoma was sanctioned after she appeared before the institution’s Students’ Disciplinary Committee for allegedly filming a dying colleague at the university’s health centre and sharing the video on TikTok.

This was contained in the institution’s official letter dated October 21, 2025, and seen by PUNCH Metro on Thursday.

[…]

He also appealed to the Vice Chancellor to reverse the decision while stating efforts to reach him via social media.

The message read in part, “Good morning, sir. How is work and family? I trust that all is perfectly fine. I’m writing to you this morning regarding an unjustifiable two-year suspension that was given to a 300-level Biotechnology student from Delta State University, Abraka, over a video she uploaded on her TikTok account about girls not getting involved in abortions, as clearly stated in her caption.”

“Attached to this email are the video and the suspension letter, respectively. I have already sent them to you on your Instagram account, but you have yet to respond, sir, and unfortunately, my own account has been restricted for 72 hours. Please, sir, do not allow this injustice to stand, as this young lady’s future is about to be shattered and cut short.”

In the post, Oseni further alleged that the student’s stepfather had asked her to abandon her education following the sanction.

He wrote, “In addition to the pandemonium, her stepfather had vehemently told her to kiss her education goodbye forever, and that she should prepare to go back to the village. Please, sir, don’t allow this to happen to her. We need your help. Please intervene. I look forward to hearing from you, sir. Thank you.”

Efforts to get the reaction of the institution on a possible reconsideration were futile, as the contact number found on the university website did not connect. A text message sent to the number had yet to be replied to as of the time this report was filed.

Punch

The Detty December stories have begun to appear in the papers. We will carry out our solemn duty here in BTH to keep you updated as the days go by:

As the festive season draws near, reports of fraudulent shortlet apartment deals targeting Nigerians in the diaspora are once again on the rise, with many falling victim to online scammers posing as legitimate property agents.

In what appears to be one of such incidents, a Nigerian family based abroad has reportedly lost N1.3 million to a shortlet agent, who vanished immediately after receiving payment for a supposed apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The family, who had planned to spend their “Detty December” holiday in Nigeria, reportedly contacted the agent through Instagram after seeing several attractive photos of apartments listed under her handle. The page, which showcased luxury shortlet accommodations in highbrow areas of Lagos, including Ikoyi and Lekki, had gained considerable engagement and appeared legitimate.

According to sources, the family had even visited the residence to verify the property and were further convinced when a supposed housekeeper at the location confirmed that the agent managed the place.
Convinced of the authenticity of the deal, the family transferred N1.3 million to the agent as payment to secure the apartment for December 6, 2025.

However, shortly after the payment was made, the agent reportedly deactivated her Instagram account and became unreachable through all known contact channels.

Vanguard

There is a lot going on in this story:

Several people were injured on Wednesday night during a violent clash between Hausa and Benin youths in Ogheghe community, Egor Local Council of Edo State, following the killing of a suspected Internet fraudster identified as Chizi Benz.

Sources said the deceased was allegedly stabbed to death by a youth believed to be from the North after a disagreement over a failed deal. Although details of the incident were still unclear at press time, the killing reportedly sparked outrage among local youths, who took to the streets in a reprisal attack.

Armed with dangerous weapons, the angry youths targeted northern residents in the area, injuring several people and forcing others to flee for safety.

The violence quickly spread to nearby communities, including Uwelu along the Siluko axis, where panic forced northern traders and commercial motorcyclists to shut their businesses and vacate the area.

Guardian

Pastor Foluke Adeboye with quite the revelation here. Sorry to that dog:

Foluke Adeboye, the wife of Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has revealed how her family dog passed away on January 1st due to having eaten poisonous food that was delivered to their residence.

The 77-year-old cleric recounted the near-trageity in a video recently shared with church members, stating that the household barely escaped harm when the suspicious meal was taken from their table.

Mrs. Adeboye explained that the food was brought to their residence as one of the many New Year gifts received. However, feeling a sudden sense of unease, she instinctively instructed her staff to feed the dish to their dogs.

“Somebody on one of the New Year Day brought food to our house. Of course, so many people had been coming in, going, and eating. I just entered into the kitchen and asked who owned this food. They said a person brought it. I looked at the food and asked them to give it to the dogs,” she narrated.

She added that a visitor from London who witnessed the decision was shocked.

“One woman who came from London was looking at me, and she almost abused me but because I’m a mother that’s why she couldn’t abuse me immediately. But in an hour’s time, the gateman brought the news that the dog has died,” she explained.

Tribune

Stories like this make you wonder what exactly is going on, and is one of the things we try to do with this newsletter:

Operatives of the Delta State Police Command on joint stop and search duty with Bomadi Vigilante along the Bomadi–Tuomo Road have arrested a 62 year old woman, Charter Timide, with a sack containing 178 live cartridges neatly packed for delivery.

The suspect was arrested on October 30, 2025, at about 1230hrs.

Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

The statement read, “On 30th October 2025 at about 1230 hrs, operatives of the Bomadi Division, under the command of DPO, CSP Adie Peter Bissong, while on a joint stop-and-search operation with the Bomadi Vigilante, intercepted a motorcycle along the Bomadi–Tuomo Road.

“The cyclist, who appeared uneasy, was conveying a 62-year-old woman, later identified as Charter Timide, to Tuomo Community.

“Upon a thorough search, officers discovered a concealed sack containing 178 live cartridges neatly packed for delivery.

“When interrogated, the suspect admitted purchasing the cartridges from Onitsha Main Market, a hub long known for its bustling trade.

Daily Post

Non-Nigerian Media

Some news from Sweden:

A 60-year-old woman charged with embezzling £1.5 million from a Swedish local authority has claimed she was conned by “romance scammers” pretending to be Sir Mick Jagger.

The former financial administrator, who has not been publicly identified, told police that a person posing as the rock star had first contacted her in 2018 and started making romantic overtures. The fraudulent “Sir Mick” then supposedly started asking her for money so that he could finalise a divorce and start a relationship with her.

The woman, who worked at the municipal administration in Solna, an affluent suburb of Stockholm, is alleged to have subsequently siphoned off a total of 18.3 million Swedish krona (£1.5 million).

Investigators said she made 179 separate transfers to her own bank accounts between July 2019 and October 2023, before channelling the money onward to countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Turkey and Hong Kong. She also sold her car, a ring and her summer house, worth 2.5 million krona (£200,000), and sent the money to the fraudster.

The Times

A sad thing to read about Diphtheria:

Diphtheria was once a major killer of children in the United States and other industrialized countries, but cases began to drop with the introduction of a diphtheria vaccine in the 1940s, and by the 1970s, the disease had become rare. There was just one case a year reported in the United States in the two decades after 1996, and only a handful since.

The disease was vanishing from developing countries, too, at the beginning of the 21st century. But cases began to resurge about 15 years ago. Venezuela had a major outbreak, when its once-strong public health system fell apart during years of political instability. Bangladesh had one, beginning in 2017, mostly among Rohingya refugees packed into crowded camps. There have been nearly 30,000 reported cases in Nigeria in the last two years, mostly in the country’s north, where vaccination coverage is lower.

New York Times

Meet the Ogbechies:

More than 7,000 miles separates the West African village in which Nkem Ogbechie was born from the Ventura County, Calif., home that he and his wife, Angela, selected to raise their family.

The path that Nkem journeyed in four decades is actually much longer.

His father, a former track and field star, practiced medicine in Nigeria. Nkem’s mother, an accomplished athlete, worked as a scientist. Nkem was the oldest of four siblings. His family moved to Boston when he was 3, so his parents could advance their careers.

“They always reminded us,” he said, “that their athleticism didn’t pay the bills. It was their training, their education, their ambition, the work ethic.”

Angela competed in four sports and was the valedictorian of her high school class in Southern California. She earned admission to Stanford and lived one door down and across the hall from Nkem as a freshman at Toyon Hall.

He was a defensive lineman on the football team. They met on Sept. 22, 1996, and married 10 years later after Angela received a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia and Nkem earned the same from Rice. He later studied at Harvard, where his sister, Kaego, starred in volleyball. She was inducted into the Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2022.

It was within this environment of high achievement that Manaia Ogbechie, the oldest of Nkem and Angela’s five children, was molded.

Today, she brings instant energy as a true freshman reserve for the No. 1-ranked Nebraska volleyball team, a super sub on a super team. Nebraska is 20-0 and 10-0 in the Big Ten. The Huskers allow fewer than 16 points per set in conference play. They’ve swept 11 consecutive opponents to enter Friday at No. 11 Wisconsin, an 8 p.m. CT clash of rivals on Halloween.

The Athletic

68 year old Kay says she is in love with 25 year old Ablack:

Shortly after losing almost £10,000 in a Bitcoin scam, the 68-year-old received a message from handsome stranger named Ablack who lived in Nigeria.

While Kay was wary she couldn’t resist Ablack’s advances and this time she got her happily ever after her holiday to Nigeria ended in marriage just three months later.

“Being with Ablack makes me feel like being a teenager again,” Kay explains.

“I’d originally meant to keep travelling after visiting Nigeria, but now I’ve found my new home.”

[…]

Kay stayed with Ablack in his house in Lagos and on the third night of her trip in July 2024 he took her out for dinner at a restaurant overlooking the city.

“We were standing on the balcony admiring the view, when I turned to find Ablack down on one knee asking me to marry him,” Kay recalls.

“I was totally caught off guard, but my answer was an instant yes.

“The other restaurant diners cheered us on.”

A few days after the proposal, Ablack and Kay were intimate for the first time.

“I was worried about what he would think of my body, but he reassured me I was beautiful and what a real woman looked like,” she says.

“Being with him felt amazing, it was what I had been missing all of these years.

The Sun

Update on the baby gorilla in Turkey:

Turkey‘s decision to keep an African baby gorilla rescued from trafficking defies logic, a Nigerian conservation NGO that was preparing to receive it for onward repatriation, said Saturday.

The primate was five months old when he was discovered at Istanbul airport in a wooden crate just before Christmas en route from Nigeria to Thailand and taken in a zoo in the hills outside Istanbul to recover.

Nigeria sought his repatriation and Turkey’s conservation authorities launched the process but halted it after a DNA test confirmed Zeytin belonged to a species not native to Nigeria.

On Friday, Turkish officials announced that Zeytin would not be repatriated to Nigeria but kept in a zoo in Turkey.

Pandrillus Foundation in Nigeria was preparing to house Zeytin with another young gorilla of the same sub-species before sending the pair to a sanctuary in central Africa.

“We are exceedingly disappointed. There is no logic in what the Turkish government is doing,” Pandrillus Foundation director Liza Gadsby told AFP news agency.

“And if Turkey doesn’t want to send him to Nigeria, but directly to a gorilla sanctuary, that’s fine. But they need to do the right thing for this animal,” she said.

“They did the right thing by confiscating him in the first place,” but keeping him in Turkey “goes against everything that they’re supposed to be doing as a signatory to CITES”, or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, she said.

The Pandrillus Foundation has another gorilla which was confiscated by Nigerian customs over two years ago.

The New Arab

Imoleayo is going to prison:

The first message Imoleayo Samuel Aina sent to Jack Sullivan was innocuous enough.

“Wyd,” Aina wrote, meaning: “What you doing?”

Aina, who was living in Nigeria, used Instagram to reach out to Sullivan, a student at Kutztown University, and was using a fake account to pose as a woman named “Alice Dave.”

Aina’s messages then quickly progressed from a deceptive campaign of flirtation into a twisted form of blackmail, court records show — one involving a request for intimate photographs and then relentless demands for money.

The episode reached a tragic conclusion just 19 hours later, the records show, when Sullivan, overcome by dread and shame, sent a message saying he didn’t think he had sufficient funds to pay.

Three minutes after that, Sullivan, 20, walked onto the tracks near the Jenkintown SEPTA station, where he was struck and killed by a passing train.

In federal court Tuesday, Aina was punished for his role in the scheme as U.S. District Judge Joel H. Slomsky sentenced him to six years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

Slomsky called the decision one of the most difficult he has ever faced on the bench. But he decided to accept the terms of a plea agreement Aina had entered into with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he said — one in which prosecutors recommended that Aina, charged with crimes including cyberstalking resulting in death, receive a sentence of no more than six years behind bars.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Update on that court ordered wedding. Shariah Police have now overruled the court on the grounds that they are not actually in love:

Sharia-enforcing police in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano have cancelled a wedding of two TikTok celebrities that was ordered by a court after a viral kissing video, an official told AFP Sunday.

A court had ordered the Islamic Sharia police to have the two TikTok celebrities marry for posting the video, which it deemed “indecent”.

Kano is one of a dozen predominantly Muslim states in Nigeria where Sharia law operates alongside common law.

Videos of Idris Mai Wushirya and Basira Yar Guda had circulated on TikTok showing them cuddling and kissing, drawing outrage among Kano residents.

On Monday, a magistrate court judge instructed the Kano Sharia police, called Hisbah, to within 60 days solemnise the marriage between two for posting videos showing them kissing, an act seemed indecent in Kano’s conservative Muslim society.

However, Mai Wushirya told Hisbah officials making preparations for the wedding they he was not interested in marrying Yar Guda despite having told the judge they were “in love”, Abba Sufi, Hisbah’s director-general told AFP.

“Mai Wushirya told us that he lied to the court that he and Yar Guda were in love to evade prosecution,” Sufi said.

“With this development, we have cancelled the wedding and have resolved to refer the matter to the judge who gave the order for appropriate action,” Sufi said.

AFP

Nigerian civil servants now receiving training in Hey Hi. What’s funny?

The Nigerian government, in partnership with Google and Apolitical, has launched the AI Government Campus to train civil servants in artificial intelligence (AI), Techpoint Africa reports.

According to the outlet, the program offers structured online courses covering AI fundamentals, ethical frameworks, and practical applications for government operations, with assessments to track participants’ progress.

At the launch event in Abuja, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani emphasized the government’s commitment to integrating AI into civil service processes.

“We see artificial intelligence as a major driver of productivity across our key sectors,” he said.

“We are putting resources into ensuring AI becomes native to our civil service — to accelerate the time we spend on processes and deliver better outcomes for citizens,” he continued.

Afrotech

A story we have covered a few times in the past in this newsletter:

The NFL’s search for elite talent has taken scouts far beyond the football fields of the United States and Canada.

Basketball courts and soccer, rugby and Gaelic football pitches in such places as Australia, Germany, Ireland, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe have become breeding grounds for potential running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers, linebackers and offensive and defensive linemen.

The NFL started its International Player Pathway (IPP) program in 2017 to identify athletes who show promise as potential professional American football players, but otherwise wouldn’t have an opportunity to enter the league.

“These are the athletes,” said Pat Long, the NFL’s director of international football development, “who, even without a whole top order high school, NCAA run up, still have that potential to make the transition and jump up into being an NFL-caliber, at that point, no longer just an athlete but a player.”

When the IPP program began, the NFL allocated international athletes to just one division. It has steadily grown and, starting in 2024, all 32 NFL teams have been eligible to add one international player to their practice squad.

[…]

Nearly 100 international players have participated and more than 40 have signed with NFL teams since the IPP’s inception.

In addition to Mailata, defensive end Efe Obada (Nigeria/United Kingdom), fullback Jakob Johnson (Germany), tight end Sammis Reyes (Chile), defensive tackle David Bada (Germany) and tight end Thomas Odukoya (Netherlands) have played in regular-season games.

Daily Mail

Meanwhile over in India:

The Tulinj police in Nalasopara East on Sunday arrested two Nigerian nationals for allegedly killing another Nigerian national by smashing a bottle on his head following an argument in the early hours of the day. A third Nigerian national, who was accompanying the arrested accused, is absconding and a search is on to find him, police officers familiar with the case told HT.

According to the police, the incident took place at Pragati Nagar, which is home to a large number of Nigerians. Shortly after midnight on Sunday, the three accused – 50-year-old Ayula Babajide Bartholomew, 47-year-old Oghene Igere, and 50-year-old Odia Izu Peculiar – were standing near the Monu Grocery Shop in Pragati Nagar when another Nigerian national, 32-year-old Lucky Ikechkaw Uije, arrived there. The four Nigerians were talking among themselves when an argument broke out between them over a trivial matter, witnesses told the police. The witnesses could not understand their language and did not know what they were arguing about, they said.

“Soon, the argument took a violent turn, and two of the accused smashed a glass bottle on Uije’s head and assaulted him with sticks, causing him to bleed to death on the spot, witnesses told us,” said a police officer, requesting anonymity.

Hindustan Times

Enjoy the usual selection below!

Nigerian Media

This article gives an insight into the scale of lithium (and other minerals) mining that is currently going on in parts of Nigeria. This is one of the longest running stories in Nigerian history. A new thing pops up halfway around increasing the demand for some raw material that happens to exist in Nigeria. In short order, Nigerians do any kind of damage that is necessary to their own environment to meet that demand and get rich in the short term. It was in this way that when the Industrial Revolution made people in Britain rich and the demand for home pianos boomed, elephants in Nigeria’s north east were wiped out to supply the ivory that was used to make piano keys back then:

He added that in several instances, impostors posing as traditional rulers had signed fraudulent consent documents later used to obtain mining licences.

“We have cases where genuine paramount rulers who have the authority to endorse consent were bypassed. Some impostors signed the documents, and the Mining Cadastral Office issued exploration licences without proper verification from the state. In the end, the whole process turned out to be a scam,” he explained.

Egya said the development had triggered numerous communal and family crises across the state, as some miners obtained consent for lands belonging to others without the knowledge or approval of rightful owners.

“In some cases, the Cadastral Office issued overlapping licences that encroached on other lands, leading to serious disputes the state government has to settle daily,” he added.

He also alleged that some miners operated with forged documents, claiming to have federal approval, while others bribed local heads to validate illegal mining papers.

Egya identified poor reclamation of mined lands as another major concern, warning that the failure of miners to restore sites after operations poses both environmental and security risks.

He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to enforce compliance with land reclamation laws and strengthen collaboration with state governments to verify the authenticity of mining consents.

Egya further disclosed that Governor Sule had consistently advocated the deregulation of the solid minerals sector to give states a stronger role in monitoring and enforcement.

Vanguard

The difference between life and death can be wafer thin:

A 23-year-old man, Lukman Umar, narrowly escaped being lynched by a mob in Suleja, Niger State, after he attempted to leave a canteen without paying for his meal.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that Umar, who resides at APC Quarters 1, Suleja, was about to be lynched near Kantoma Bridge before he was rescued by policemen attached to the Anti-Thuggery Unit, who were on routine patrol.

The Niger State Police Command spokesman, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident in a statement on Friday, adding that during investigation, Umar allegedly confessed to being a member of a robbery syndicate involved in stealing vehicles, motorcycles, and phones in the area.

Abiodun said, “On October 19, 2025, at about 1 a.m., while on routine patrol, Lukman Umar, 23, of APC Quarters 1, Suleja, was found about to be lynched by a mob after taking a meal at a stall around Kantoma Bridge and attempting to flee without payment.

Punch

An interesting article which claims that eggs from Plateau state are the best in Nigeria. Also reveals the things you already know about the structure of Nigerian markets or lack thereof:

Speaking during the commemoration of the 2025 World Egg Day in Jos, the association’s chairperson, Mrs. Shinkur Angela Jima, described the state’s eggs as the best and most durable, owing to Plateau’s friendly and conducive environment and weather.

According to her, the state’s climate, favorable temperature, and geography make it an ideal place for poultry farming.

“The Nigerian poultry industry is the leading egg producer in Africa, producing over one billion eggs, yet the market is not saturated,” she said.

She continued, “Plateau State’s eggs are said to be the best in Nigeria because our favourable weather, under which our eggs are produced, makes them have a longer shelf life of up to a month without spoiling.”

She, however, lamented that egg consumption among families in the state is still very low. This forces farmers to rely on middlemen who offer “peanuts” due to poor pricing, even amidst the high cost of feed.

The PAN chairperson stressed that improving egg pricing is a collective responsibility, requiring farmers to work together in unity to curtail the excesses of middlemen.

Daily Trust

Can a court actually compel two people to marry each other? We are about to find out:

A magistrate court sitting in Kano has ordered two popular TikTokers, Idris Mai Wushirya and Basira Yar Guda, to marry within 60 days.

The order followed their recent appearance in viral videos deemed “indecent” by the Kano State Films and Video Censorship Board.

The clips, which showed the duo engaging in romantic gestures, were described by authorities as contrary to the moral and religious values upheld in the state.

Presiding over the matter on Monday, Magistrate Halima Wali directed the Kano State Hisbah Board to facilitate the marriage of the duo.

She warned that failure to conduct the marriage within the stipulated timeframe would be treated as contempt of court.

The court also mandated the Chairman of the Kano State Films and Video Censorship Board to oversee the implementation of the marriage order.

Recalls that the two TikTokers were arraigned before the court in recent weeks for allegedly producing and circulating obscene content on social media.

Vanguard

An example of Nigeria’s extreme diversity (which I wrote about here) in action. 13 new emirates and chiefdoms created out of thin air by the Bauchi Governor. Daily Trust interviewed the Emir of Lame (who?) and here’s what he had to say:

We give glory to the Almighty Allah for his blessings, mercy and favour upon our state and its people. Personally, this is a historic event that will strengthen our traditional institutions and give greater voice and representation to our communities. For example, because of the agitation and population, many district heads were created out of the oldest districts.

This is a solemn and defining moment. It is not merely about creating new emirates and chiefdoms but reaffirming our collective faith in inclusion, justice, unity, and positioning Bauchi for the next phase of its development. That evolution itself reminds us that growth requires reform; and progress demands adaptation.

The reasons the governor gave are open for all to see and agree. Today, our population has multiplied, our towns have expanded and the demands of governance have become more complex. It has, therefore, become necessary to update the structure of traditional governance to reflect these realities not to replace tradition, but to renew it and make it relevant to modern needs for peace and development.

Look at our Bauchi and Gombe states: In the past we had 16 local government areas, including the present Gombe State, but today, we have 20. We had 19 local government areas in the past, but now, we have 36. This is to tell you that at every time Allah will destine many things to happens, it will happen as he wishes. Our prayers always are to succeed, get development and sustainable peace.

Daily Trust

The Nigerian industry for “nuggets” is booming. The people love and demand it, therefore supply rises to meet it. And the best “nuggets” are from very rich men who do or say something, regardless of whether or not it makes sense, and this is then laundered into a “nugget” by the entrepreneurs supplying the market. I will be amazed if this “nugget” does not make it to LinkedIn soon:

Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has advised Nigerians against spending lavishly on the newly released iPhone 17, stressing that even Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, uses a simple Android phone.

He made this known in a post shared on his X account on Thursday, where he accompanied a statement with a picture of himself and Dangote.

“Zoom in on the phone Alhaji Aliko Dangote is using, and you will notice that it is not an expensive iPhone 17 Pro Max or any fancy device. It is a regular Android phone, and not even a new one at that. Yet, according to Forbes Magazine, this is the wealthiest person in Africa, the 86th richest human on Earth, and the Black person with the highest net worth on this planet,” Omokri wrote.

He explained that during his recent stay with Dangote in Lagos, he observed that the billionaire’s modest lifestyle reflected genuine simplicity and contentment.

“In the few days I spent with him in Lagos, Nigeria, last week, this was the only phone I saw Alhaji Dangote use. His genuine simplicity and contentment are such attractive virtues. It is no wonder that God has blessed him impactfully,” he said.

Omokri urged Nigerians to avoid purchasing costly phones merely to impress others, adding that a phone should be valued for its usefulness, not its price tag.

Tribune

Non-Nigerian Media

A surprising paragraph in an article about Inuits and Canada’s arctic archipelago:

The nomadic Inuit had long gathered in the region. But Gjoa Haven — on the southeastern tip of King William, a flat, sandy island a couple of hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle — became a settlement with the opening of a Hudson’s Bay trading post in 1927 and the establishment of government services in the 1960s. Some recall living in tents and igloos until houses were built in the 1970s. Today, the population has swelled to about 1,500 and includes outsiders from as far away as Ghana and Nigeria.

New York Times

The FT has a feature on the business of kidnapping in Nigeria. I will only say that it is not particularly a new thing but a centuries old practice that has found a new expression:

At the time, almost a decade ago, the Nigerian national was managing director of an IT consulting company he had founded after a 15-year career as a global IT portfolio manager at energy giant Shell; this job had included stays in the UK, US, Netherlands, Russia and Nigeria. He also moonlighted as a pastor at his local church — he was preparing his Sunday sermon when he heard the break-in happening — and was the publisher of a community free sheet he had launched to “push the narrative” of a city he thought was more than the headlines of death and dismay typically associated with it.

His ordeal was terrifying, he tells the Financial Times from the safety of a Lagos restaurant, where he sips on a ginger-infused drink. For more than 36 hours, he was blindfolded and transported in a car, then across a river in a canoe, before being marched barefoot through farms as they headed towards his unknown destination. His abductors kept up pressure on his family to send a ransom, having extracted contact details from Banigbe, at one point demanding as much 50mn naira (about $252,000 at the time).

After five nights in captivity, Banigbe was freed by his captors. His family had paid a ransom — he declines to say how much exactly — to secure his release. He only describes it as “several millions” of naira.

“They didn’t beat me or physically torture me,” Banigbe says. “Of course, they threatened me, and the emotional and psychological torture was a lot.”

Banigbe’s experience offers a window into the booming business of kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria, an industry of pain causing havoc as authorities in Africa’s most populous nation struggle to contain the epidemic.

Financial Times

The Times do a feature on Afrobeats and Nollywood helping to boost Nigerian power abroad:

Just as Lagos’s tech start-ups have become the envy of African business, the city’s culture has also become well known across the continent, thanks to exports such as the addictive rhythms of afrobeats and Nigeria’s larger-than-life Nollywood films.

Nigeria’s film industry releases about 2,500 films a year — far more than Hollywood and second only to India’s Bollywood for output. Movies with stars like Genevieve Nnaji and Ramsey Nouah are widely watched across Africa, and many are available to watch for free on YouTube.

In the past, these were low-budget productions. But that has changed in recent years thanks to the likes of Lionheart, Nigeria’s first Netflix original film in 2018, and 2023’s Black Book, the first Nigerian film to rank number one on Netflix worldwide.

Mavin Records in Lekki — now a swish area of Lagos but once a swampy slum — represents Rema, whose collaboration with Selena Gomez on Calm Down made him a superstar who sold out the O2 arena in June.

Tems, a Nigerian singer-songwriter, became the first African artist to debut at No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, appeared on the Beyoncé album Renaissance and earning an Oscar nomination for co-writing Lift Me Up for Hollywood’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The Times

News from Ghana:

Police in Ghana rescued 57 Nigerians trafficked to the West African country and arrested five people suspected of operating a cybercrime and human trafficking ring, authorities said Thursday.

Police raided a building in the suburb of the capital Accra on Wednesday, where the victims, between the ages of 18 and 26, were housed and forced to engage in online romance scams, the Criminal Investigations Department said Thursday in a statement.

The police retrieved 77 laptops, 38 mobile phones, two vehicles, three television sets, and other internet-enabled devices from the building.

The suspects allegedly lured their victims by promising them lucrative jobs and other opportunities in Ghana.

“Upon arrival, the victims, aged between 18 and 26 years, were coerced into engaging in online romance scams and other heinous activities,” the police said.

Independent

This article asks whether London can learn something from Kano’s Hisbah in tackling phone theft. And I have never laughed so hard:

Has Nigeria found the solution to phone snatching?

Phone thefts, which have plagued London for years, show no sign of slowing down with more than 116,000 devices stolen in 2024 alone.

One person every six minutes is still reporting having their device taken from them in the blink of an eye.

The scourge is also affecting one city 3,651 miles away.Kano in Nigeria has endured a surge in phone snatching, with victims even dying in the struggle to keep their devices.

Now the city’s law enforcement has come up with an eyebrow-raising plan to catch the thieves – paramilitary training for civilians.

Hundreds of volunteer youths have undergone two weeks of paramilitary training to serve as Special Anti-Phone Snatching and VIP Protection Guards.

Martins Okpuwara, a security operations manager in the country, told Metro:‘The newly introduced marshals are unarmed and will operate alongside the police, Hisbah, and local vigilantes.

‘They’ll be equipped with radios and motorbikes for quick response and stationed mainly around public spaces.’

Metro

Moniepoint, a cut above the rest, raise some new dough:

Nigerian payments and digital banking provider Moniepoint raised $90 million, it said this week, in one of the largest venture hauls by an African company so far in 2025.

The new funds complete a $200 million Series C funding round that began last year, which saw investors value Moniepoint at around $1 billion.

In just five years, Moniepoint’s handheld point-of-sale devices have become ubiquitous in kiosks, restaurants, and malls across the country, enabling cash deposits and withdrawals, as well as card payments. Combined with a personal banking app, its products have been used by more than 10 million businesses and individuals in Nigeria, with more than $250 billion in digital payments transaction value processed annually, it said. The company expanded in April by offering cross-border remittances, beginning with the UK-Nigeria corridor.

This latest raise underscores fintech’s dominance in African tech funding, with the sector taking up a third of 2025’s $2.2 billion total so far, according to Africa: The Big Deal, a funding tracker.

Semafor

Nice story here. Incentives do matter:

Conservationists and students cheered as three rescued sea turtles, endangered in this part of the world, made their way back into the ocean at a private beach in Nigeria’s economic hub of Lagos.

Weeks after the turtles were rescued from fishermen, they were released back into the ocean becoming the latest of dozens of sea turtles saved by the Greenfingers Wildlife Conservation Initiative in recent years. This batch was released last weekend.

“For fishermen, they are just food,” Chinedu Mogbo, founder of the Greenfingers group told The Associated Press. “There is no knowledge out there of wildlife.”

Sea turtles, known to play a critical role in the marine ecosystem, are endangered around Lagos, a coastal city of more than 20 million people. There are no figures for their remaining population in Lagos’ waters, but wildlife conservationists like Mogbo speak of an alarming decline in the number of sea turtles coming to the shores to lay eggs.

Wildlife species are endangered in Nigeria

[…]

Incentives to the fishermen have helped, he said. The fishermen are rewarded with fishing gear if they alert conservationists when their nets catch a sea turtle or if they chance upon a turtle nest on shore.

As the three turtles disappeared into the water, a group of students watched in admiration.

“It is very special to me because I’m very passionate about wildlife rehabilitation and conservation,” said Aviel Izedonmi, one of the students present. “Seeing something like this in Nigeria, where it is uncommon, just shows me how important these things are.”

Independent

Update on the Baby Gorilla. It seems it has successfully lobbied for Indefinite Leave to Remain in Turkey:

A baby gorilla who was rescued from trafficking at Istanbul airport just before Christmas will remain in Turkey rather than be repatriated to Nigeria, Turkish officials said Friday.

The young primate was five months old when he was discovered inside a wooden crate in the cargo section of a Turkish Airlines plane en route from Nigeria to Thailand, and taken in a zoo in the hills outside Istanbul to recover.

Named Zeytin -- Turkish for olive -- he was nursed back to health with the aim of sending him back to Nigeria, where he began his journey, in line with the regulations in the CITES treaty limiting the trade of protected animals.

Following a Nigerian request for his repatriation, Turkey’s nature conservation and national parks directorate began the process but stopped it after a DNA test confirmed Zeytin belonged to a species that was not native to Nigeria.

“The DNA test... using whole genome sequencing, revealed Zeytin was a Western lowland gorilla. This scientific evidence showed that Nigeria was not Zeytin’s country of origin (which) necessitated a re-evaluation of Zeytin’s conservation status,” it said.

The Western lowland gorilla is a critically endangered subspecies native to the rain forests of central Africa, whose numbers have plummeted in recent decades because of deforestation, hunting and disease.

“Since Nigeria is not the country of origin, it was decided... to place Zeytin in a zoo in Turkey,” it said. Until now, he has been looked after at Polonezkoy Zoo near Istanbul.

Last month Fahrettin Ulu, regional director of Istanbul’s Nature Conservation and National Parks directorate, told AFP it was the first time a gorilla had been seized at Istanbul airport.

When he first arrived, Zeytin weighed 9.4 kilograms (21 pounds) but by early September he weighed 16 kg and his height increased from 62.5 to 80 centimetres (2.1 to 2.6 feet), he told AFP.

Zeytin, “who was once a baby, has become a young gorilla”, he added.

Daily Mail

This is a terrible story:

Police have arrested a Nigerian hotel worker after a British tourist was allegedly raped on a Greek holiday island.

The 45-year-old victim told Kos police officers that she had been sexually assaulted by the 42-year-old man in her room at around 7pm on Monday.

She said she had been drinking and that the hotel employee took advantage of her condition.

Following an investigation, police officers of the Kos Criminal Investigation and Prosecution Department located and arrested the suspect, who is being held before appearing in front of the Kos District Court prosecutor.

It comes just months after another British tourist claimed she was sexually assaulted during a massage on a different Greek island.

The 37-year-old had been staying at a hotel on Rhodes when she said she was touched inappropriately while on the massage table in June.

The employee touched her with their fingernail six times in a disputed area but the holidaymaker said there was no need or context as to why the masseuse touched her there.

She told cops at the Ialisos Police Station that she felt uncomfortable and offended by the ‘indecent and violating’ behaviour, it was reported in local paper Proto Thema.

Daily Mail

Killing someone and rapping about it:

A drill rapper has been jailed for life for fatally stabbing a gang rival whose younger brother was killed four years later.

Lekan Akinsoji and accomplice Sundjata Keita, both aged 27, were found guilty of murder eight years after 21-year-old Ahmed Deen-Jah was killed.

Mr Deen-Jah was chased into an off licence and stabbed near Custom House station in east London on the afternoon of April 2 2017.

Just 10 days before the ride-out killing, Akinsoji rapped on a video entitled Armed And Ready how he intended to avoid getting caught, saying: “No face, no case, no evvy (evidence).”

A year after the murder, Akinsoji was armed with a shotgun and wore a clown mask on another ride-out in a stolen car in Leytonstone, east London.

He was arrested after a police chase and sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent and having a gun.

Welwyn Hatfield Times