Author: Platform Times Newspaper

The 2026 Amirul Hajj for Ogun State, Shamsudeen Adebayo Apelogun, has assured Nigerian pilgrims and their families of their safety following a tragic accident that left some participants injured during the ongoing pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Apelogun, who spoke  in Mecca, said no pilgrim from Ogun State was affected by the incident, while expressing deep sympathy for those impacted. He, however, noted that any injured pilgrims connected to the Ogun contingent were receiving prompt medical attention and were responding well to treatment, adding that authorities had strengthened safety and transportation arrangements to avert a recurrence. “We want to assure families…

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has dismissed claims of terrorist presence in the South-West geopolitical zone, insisting that the recent abduction of pupils and teachers in Oyo State was an isolated criminal incident and not evidence of any entrenched insurgent network in the region. The clarification comes amid heightened public concern following remarks by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who had suggested that armed groups behind the attack on schools in the state were terrorists and warned of possible spillover of insurgency pressure from the North-West into the South-West. The governor had disclosed that the attack on Baptist Nursery and Primary…

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (National Drug Law Enforcement Agency) has uncovered and dismantled a massive transnational methamphetamine production network operating from a clandestine forest laboratory in Ogun State, in what officials describe as one of its most significant anti-narcotics operations in recent times. The agency said the operation led to the seizure of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals valued at over ₦480bn, alongside the arrest of 10 suspects comprising the alleged kingpin, identified as Anochili Innocent, three Mexican nationals, and six Nigerian collaborators. The secret drug factory was located deep inside Abidagba Forest in Ijebu East Local Government…

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has warned that it may embark on industrial action if the Federal and state governments fail to urgently halt the rising wave of attacks on schools and abductions of teachers and students across the country. The union described the repeated assaults on educational institutions as barbaric, inhuman and a grave threat to the survival of Nigeria’s education system. In a statement jointly signed by its National President, Audu Amba, and Secretary General, Clinton Ikpitibo, the Nigeria Union of Teachers lamented that schools, which should serve as safe environments for learning, have increasingly become targets…

Activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, has accused the administrations of former President Muhammadu Buhari and incumbent President Bola Tinubu of enabling what he described as the entrenchment of terrorist groups in Nigeria. Farotimi made the allegation on Wednesday during an interview on State Affairs, a podcast hosted by Edmund Obilo, while reacting to the worsening security situation across the country. He claimed that the handling of insecurity by successive governments under the ruling All Progressives Congress had emboldened violent actors and weakened state authority. According to him, “It is Buhari, the APC, and Tinubu’s government that enabled Fulani terrorists to…

The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed June 5, 2026, for judgment in a suit seeking the deregistration of several political parties, including the African Democratic Congress, Accord Party, Action Alliance, Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party over alleged constitutional breaches. Justice Peter Lifu fixed the date on Wednesday after dismissing applications for stay of proceedings and joinder filed by some politicians and party members seeking to be joined in the matter. Those affected by the ruling include Senator Ademola Adeleke, Oluwafemi Abayomi Arabambi of the Accord Party, and Sani Yakubu Noma of the ADC. In his…

The Chairman of Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, Alabi Olateju Michael, has disclosed that security operatives are tightening the noose around armed abductors who attacked three schools in the council, expressing optimism that the victims will soon regain freedom. Alabi said coordinated security operations involving multiple agencies had been ongoing since the abduction of pupils, teachers and a school principal in Ahoro-Esinele community last Friday. Gunmen had stormed Community High School, Ahoro-Esinele, alongside two nearby primary schools, moving from classroom to classroom and whisking away dozens of victims, including minors, in a brazen daylight attack that has sparked…

A 37-year-old man, Oluwafemi Lekan, was on Wednesday, remanded in a correctional centre by an Ado-Ekiti Magistrates’ Court  for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl. PLATFORM TIMES reports that the  Magistrate, Mrs Olubunmi Bamidele, ordered the remand of the defendant pending issuance of legal advice by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Ekiti State. The  plea of the defendant was, however, not taken. The Police had, through a Form K application, sought the remand of the defendant pending the legal advice from the DPP office. The prosecutor, ASP Osuolale Yomi, told the court that the defendant committed the…

The husband of the abducted principal of Community Grammar School, Esiele, Professor Wole Alamu, has urged Nigerians to exercise restraint in public commentary as security agencies intensify efforts to rescue pupils, teachers and administrators kidnapped in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. Alamu, who spoke during a telephone interview on Wednesday, warned that premature disclosures and unguarded statements could compromise ongoing operations aimed at securing the safe release of the victims. “We are going to grant interviews, but not now. The work is seriously being done underneath. Anything you say now may jeopardise the rescue operations,” he said. He,…

Zainab Abioye  The Ogun State Police Command recorded a total of 2,559 criminal cases across the state between January and March 2026, with theft and stealing emerging as the most prevalent offences, according to official crime statistics obtained from the command. Data released by the Police Public Relations Department showed that 830 cases of theft and other stealing-related offences were reported within the period, placing the category at the top of the state’s crime chart for the first quarter of the year. The figures further revealed a fluctuating crime pattern across the three months under review. January recorded the highest…