Author: Platform Times Newspaper

In a major intelligence-led operation, Oyo State police operatives intercepted a truck carrying 40 bags of explosives in the Sango area of Saki, averting a potential security disaster. The truck, a DAF vehicle with registration number Ogun SGM 765 XB, was seized late Friday night at about 11:10 p.m., officials said. The driver, Mutairu Yusuf, 30, a resident of Atiru Compound, Chikanda in Kwara State, was immediately arrested following the discovery. Preliminary investigations revealed that the explosives had been loaded in Ibadan and were allegedly being transported to Chikanda, a strategic border town in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara…

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) to court over the alleged mismanagement or diversion of N128 billion from public coffers. Kolawole Oluwadare, Deputy Director of SERAP, disclosed on Sunday that the civil society group filed the suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday under suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/143/2026. The lawsuit seeks an order of mandamus compelling the defendants to fully account for the missing funds. According to SERAP, the allegations are detailed in the latest annual report of the Auditor-General, released…

Two officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun I Area Command, were critically injured on Thursday after armed men suspected to be drug traffickers attacked a patrol team during an anti-smuggling operation in Imeko-Afon Local Government Area of Ogun State. PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the officers were acting on credible intelligence when they intercepted a 12-tyre truck believed to be conveying a large haul of illicit drugs and other prohibited items at Akokoro area of Iwoye around 4pm. Before reinforcements could arrive, the suspects reportedly mobilised armed hoodlums who launched a coordinated assault on the operatives. In a statement…

Rescue officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) on Tuesday saved a motorist suspected to be drunk after his vehicle rammed into a moving truck along the Ebute-Ero inward NEPA axis, Apongbon, Lagos, leaving him critically trapped. Preliminary findings by LASTMA indicated that the male driver, who was behind the wheel of a Honda Jeep with registration number FKJ 562 JF, was allegedly driving at an excessive speed while descending the bridge when he lost control and crashed into the rear of a Scania truck. The impact of the collision crushed the vehicle, trapping the driver and triggering…

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has blamed the worsening wave of banditry, kidnapping and terrorism across Nigeria on sabotage by powerful interests, entrenched corruption and the influence of shadowy cabals within and outside government. In a statement issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, the group said the persistence of insecurity despite huge budgetary allocations to defence and internal security showed that “forces working against national stability” were deliberately frustrating genuine reform efforts. Afenifere lamented that initiatives aimed at improving electricity supply, water provision, agriculture, education, the economy and national security had repeatedly collapsed because of…

A 65-year-old woman, Hauwa Abulazeez, has been arrested by troops of the Joint Task Force (North-East), Operation Hadin Kai, over her alleged role in supplying illicit drugs to Boko Haram terrorists operating in parts of Borno State. The military disclosed on Sunday that the suspect was apprehended in Askira Uba Local Government Area during an intelligence-led operation aimed at dismantling terrorist logistics and criminal support networks in the North-East. The Media Information Officer of Operation Hadin Kai, Lieutenant Colonel Sanni Uba, said the arrest was carried out on January 23 under Operation Desert Sanity V, describing it as a “significant…

Daud Olatunji Former Ogun State Governor and Senator, Ibikunle Amosun, on Sunday, stunned political observers and loyalists of Governor Dapo Abiodun as he firmly ruled out any defection to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), reaffirmed his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and publicly endorsed President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid. Amosun’s declaration came amid weeks of speculation that he was set to dump the ruling party and contest the Ogun Central senatorial seat on the platform of the ADC ahead of the 2027 general elections, a move believed to have rattled the Abiodun camp and deepened existing fault lines…

The Oyo State Police Command has intercepted a consignment of materials suspected to be explosive devices in Saki, Oke Ogun area of the state, and arrested the driver conveying them. The command disclosed this in a statement on Sunday signed by its Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso, noting that the arrest followed actionable intelligence that led to a stop-and-search operation by operatives in the area. According to the police, the truck and the suspected explosive materials were immediately secured and taken into custody to prevent any potential threat to public safety. “Acting on credible intelligence, operatives of the command intercepted…

The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that the prices of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will continue to decline nationwide, citing improved supply, stronger competition and rising private sector investments across the downstream oil and gas sector. The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Saidu Mohammed, gave the assurance on Sunday during an inspection tour of Aradel Holdings Plc facilities in Ogbele community, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State. Mohammed said the gradual fall in pump prices reflected the impact of deregulation and expanding domestic production capacity, noting…

The Amalgamated Muslim Rights Concern (AMURIC) has called on Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko and Sokoto State Governor Ahmed Aliyu to publicly address allegations of sodomy and persecution levelled against them by Alhaji Buhari Namalam, a Sokoto-based businessman and politician. The Muslim rights group said the claims, which have gained traction through viral videos and media reports, were too sensitive to be ignored, particularly given Sokoto’s historical status as the spiritual hub of Islam in Nigeria. Namalam, a former grassroots mobiliser for Governor Aliyu during the 2023 elections, had alleged that he was subjected to persecution after refusing immoral advances, claims…