Author: Platform Times Newspaper

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has directed its departments nationwide to withhold regulatory services from 11 domestic airlines over unpaid debts, escalating concerns across Nigeria’s aviation sector. The directive, contained in an internal memo dated May 22, 2026, was signed by the Director of Finance and Accounts, Olufemi Odukoya, and circulated to all directorates, regional offices, and senior officials, including the Director-General of Civil Aviation. Under the “No-Pay-No-Service” order, affected airlines will be denied access to critical regulatory services until they settle their outstanding financial obligations to the authority. Airlines listed in the directive include Air Peace, Ibom Air, Arik…

Nigeria recorded about 2.2 million kidnapping incidents with an estimated ₦2.2 trillion paid as ransom within one year, a security expert, Prof. Oyesoji Aremu, has disclosed, warning that the country is sliding into a dangerous “ransom economy.” Aremu made the disclosure while delivering a public lecture organised by the Social Sciences Students’ Association at Adekunle Ajasin University, Ondo State, where he painted a grim picture of the nation’s worsening security crisis and its toll on citizens and the economy. The professor, who is the Acting Vice-Chancellor of Achievers University, Owo, cited data attributed to the National Bureau of Statistics and…

Gunmen have killed three worshippers and abducted 15 others during a late-night attack on a prayer ground in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State. The incident, which occurred on Saturday at Ori-Oke Ajaiye on the outskirts of Ikiran Village in the Ikerin/Ajuba axis, has thrown surrounding communities into panic, with residents fleeing and families left searching for missing relatives. Sources told PLATFORM TIMES that the assailants stormed the area in large numbers, opened fire on worshippers holding a night vigil, and whisked several victims away through nearby forest routes. A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear…

By Haroon Ishola Balogun In recent days, a deeply inflammatory and misleading post by a foreign commentator, Mike Arnold, has circulated across social media platforms, falsely portraying the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, as the mastermind of a supposed Islamic agenda to conquer Nigeria and unleash a global jihad. The publication, wrapped in sensational headlines and conspiracy-laden language, is not only dishonest and reckless, but also a dangerous attempt to undermine Nigeria’s fragile social and religious harmony by demonizing one of the country’s most respected voices for peace and interfaith unity and 17th most influential Muslim in…

…Review conference ends without agreement as disarmament push stalls The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) has accused nuclear-armed states including the United States, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia of deliberately suppressing evidence on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, as global negotiations on disarmament ended in deadlock. The allegation came as the 11th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty concluded in New York without a final consensus document, after weeks of tense negotiations marked by deep divisions between nuclear powers and non-nuclear states. According to ICAN, efforts by the majority of…

Former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, has ignited fresh controversy over Nigeria’s First Republic politics after alleging that the late Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, led discussions among senior military officers to engineer a political outcome that would have edged out then Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in favour of President Nnamdi Azikiwe during the turbulent 1964 constitutional crisis. Gowon made the revelations in his memoir, My Life of Duty and Allegiance, where he revisited the intense power struggle that rocked the country in the years leading to the collapse of the First Republic. He claimed that discussions among select…

The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Ajibola Basiru, has warned former Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, to desist from making remarks capable of undermining the ruling party, threatening disciplinary action if he fails to comply. Basiru issued the warning following Fayemi’s recent criticism of the APC, where he alleged that the party had deviated from its founding ideals and was gradually losing its ideological direction. Fayemi, who spoke during a television interview, lamented what he described as the erosion of internal democracy within the party, warning that the growing culture of consensus arrangements and political endorsements could trigger…

A fresh legal dispute has emerged between Mrs Aichatou El-Rufai, wife of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, following a N2bn pre-action notice issued against the anti-graft agency over alleged defamation. Mrs El-Rufai, through her legal representatives, accused the commission of publishing statements that allegedly tarnished her reputation and portrayed her as dishonest in the eyes of the public. The dispute stems from a press release issued by the ICPC on May 18, 2026, titled “Clarification on the Access Control Protocol at ICPC Headquarters, Abuja,” and signed by its spokesperson,…

Law enforcement authorities in Thailand and the United States have cracked down on separate fraud schemes involving Nigerian nationals, resulting in the arrest of six suspects in Bangkok and the sentencing of a Nigerian-American in Alaska. In Thailand, police arrested six Nigerians during a raid on a luxury condominium in Nonthaburi province over their alleged involvement in a romance scam network targeting unsuspecting victims. The operation, codenamed “Dark Room Crackdown,” followed weeks of investigations into foreign criminal syndicates linked to suspicious financial transactions. Officers executed search warrants on three apartments in a riverside condominium near Phra Nang Klao Bridge in…

Operatives of the Nigerian Police Force, in collaboration with local hunters, have rescued 12 passengers abducted during a midnight attack along the Isua Akoko axis of Ondo State, following a coordinated bush-combing operation that has now entered an intensified manhunt phase for the fleeing suspects. The victims were among passengers travelling in two commercial Hummer buses from Benue State to Ibadan when armed kidnappers ambushed them around 1:30 a.m. on Friday, forcing several occupants into nearby forest after blocking the highway. Confirming the incident on Saturday, the Police Public Relations Officer in Ondo State, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, said the attackers…