Author: Platform Times Newspaper

Troops under the Operation Hadin Kai have arrested a 50-year-old woman suspected of collaborating with Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists in Borno State, in a fresh breakthrough against insurgency logistics networks. The suspect, identified as Kellu Abba, a resident of the Lawanti area in Baga town, was intercepted on Wednesday morning at a military checkpoint in Kukawa Local Government Area while allegedly attempting to ferry supplies to a known insurgent hideout. Security sources said the woman was arrested at about 8:00 a.m. after troops grew suspicious of her movement along a route linked to terrorist activity in the region. She was reportedly…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will carefully study the judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja that nullified aspects of its timetable for the 2027 general elections before deciding its next line of action. The commission’s position comes after the court ruled that it lacks the statutory powers to fix or prescribe timelines for political parties’ primaries and nomination processes ahead of general elections. The ruling, delivered on Wednesday by Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, arose from a suit filed by the Youth Party, challenging INEC’s revised election timetable which set…

A new global study has revealed a sharp rise in mental health disorders worldwide, showing that the number of people living with mental illnesses has nearly doubled over the past three decades, reaching about 1.17 billion in 2023. The study, published in the medical journal The Lancet and led by researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, found that the global burden of mental disorders increased by 95.5 per cent between 1990 and 2023 across 204 countries. Researchers analysed data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Study covering multiple age groups, sexes and regions…

… NNPC Insists Nigeria Cannot Rely On Single Refinery For Supply … Dangote Challenges Licences Issued To Petroleum Marketers The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss a suit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery seeking to invalidate fuel import licences issued to marketers, warning that the move could destabilise supply, trigger price shocks and hand the downstream market to a single dominant player. In a strong legal opposition, the NNPC Limited told the court that granting Dangote Refinery’s request would expose Nigeria’s petroleum sector to serious risks, including supply disruptions…

A 49-year-old teacher, Adesiyan Adegboye, who was killed during last Friday’s bandits’ invasion of schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, has been laid to rest amid growing anxiety over the safety of students and teachers. Adegboye was buried on Friday in Ogbomoso following a solemn funeral service attended by family members, colleagues and sympathisers, who decried the rising wave of attacks on schools in the state. The late teacher was reportedly shot dead when armed assailants stormed three schools in the Oriire axis, abducting an unspecified number of students and staff in a brazen daylight operation that…

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has revealed his role in the emergence of President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 general elections, even as he expressed concern over what he described as the declining ideological direction of the ruling All Progressives Congress. Fayemi, who spoke during an interview on State Affairs, a podcast hosted by Edmund Obilo, said while he supported Tinubu’s presidential bid, the party they collectively built had strayed from its founding principles. The former Minister of Mines and Steel Development also described the unexpected surge of the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the last election,…

Tension gripped residents of Ekiti State on Friday after authorities of Ayetoro-Iloro High School ordered an emergency closure of the school following reports of suspected bandits sighted near the community. Students were said to have fled the premises in panic, with viral videos circulating on social media showing them running along major roads and seeking refuge from motorists and residents as fear spread across the area. The development sparked anxiety among parents, many of whom rushed to the school and surrounding areas in search of their children amid confusion and uncertainty. Although no attack or abduction had been confirmed as…

The Ogun State Police Command has said there is no verified intelligence confirming reports of alleged bandit threats circulating in parts of Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State, even as concerns continue to grow among residents and local security groups over possible attacks on rural communities and schools. The Command said it had taken note of reports making rounds on social media and within some communities about alleged threat letters purportedly warning of planned kidnappings of schoolchildren, but stressed that such claims remain unsubstantiated. In a statement issued on Friday by the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Oluseyi Babaseyi,…

No fewer than 1,100 Nigerian migrants stranded in Agadez, Niger Republic, have returned to the country through Kano State, authorities confirmed on Friday. The returnees, who arrived by road, were received and processed by officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service and other partner agencies at designated reception centres in Kano. The Commandant of the Immigration Training School, Kano, Anthony Akuneme, disclosed this in a statement, noting that the migrants were immediately subjected to documentation and profiling upon arrival. According to him, the returnees are being processed through the Migration Information and Data Analysis System at the Migrants Arrival, Knowledge and…

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has explained why leaders of the African Democratic Congress were denied access to former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, currently in its custody, stating that only individuals recognised by a subsisting court order are permitted to see him. Top officials of the ADC, including Rauf Aregbesola, Bolaji Abdullahi and Salihu Lukman, were reportedly turned back on Friday at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja when they attempted to visit the detained former governor. Reacting, the ICPC spokesperson, J. Okor Odey, said the denial was in strict compliance with a court directive guiding…