Author: Platform Times Newspaper

A High Court sitting in Sokoto State has sentenced three men, including a foreign national, to death by hanging for terrorism and illegal arms trafficking. The convicts — Yusuf Muhammad, also known as Sallau, a Nigerien; Jabbi Alhaji Yalle; and Kabiru Muhammad — were found guilty of charges bordering on terrorism and proliferation of arms. They were arrested on June 13, 2025, by operatives of the Department of State Services’ Counter Terrorism Unit over their involvement in cross-border criminal activities. Delivering judgment in the case marked SS/45c/2026, Justice Muhammad Nuraddeen Bello of High Court No. 23, Sokoto, held that the…

There was outrage on Wednesday after a viral video showed armed men moving freely through a police checkpoint in Nigeria’s North-West, with officers allegedly seen waving and directing the convoy as it passed. PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the incident was initially believed to have occurred along a route between Zamfara State and Sokoto State—two regions severely affected by years of banditry—raising fresh concerns over possible collusion within security ranks. In the footage, a large convoy of gunmen riding motorcycles and carrying rifles was seen approaching and passing through the checkpoint without resistance. Some uniformed officers appeared to gesture at the…

The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday passed a constitutional amendment bill seeking to establish state police, marking a significant step towards decentralising policing amid rising insecurity across the country. The proposed legislation, which was considered and adopted clause-by-clause at the Committee of the Whole, provides a legal framework for states to establish and operate their own police services alongside the existing Nigeria Police Force. The bill, titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for the Establishment of State Police and for Related Matters (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026,” seeks to…

…Orders Immediate Release Of Budgets, Constituency Projects, Scorecards …Officials To Publish Allocations, Project Details Without Further Delay Daud Olatunji The Ekiti State High Court has ordered the Chairman of Ekiti South West Local Government Area, Hon. Richard Apolola, and a member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon. Tony Kehinde Adaramodu, to release comprehensive details of budgetary allocations and constituency projects following a Freedom of Information suit filed by a citizen. In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, Justice A.A. Adeleye directed the officials to provide full records of funds allocated to the local government and constituency, including disbursements for…

Operatives of the Ogun State Police Command have killed two suspected kidnappers and recovered ₦2.2 million believed to be ransom proceeds, alongside a firearm, during a gun duel with a criminal gang in the state. The Police Public Relations Officer, Oluseyi Babaseyi, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, noting that the operation was carried out by the Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit following the abduction of a victim at Ogbe Village on June 11, 2026. He explained that the police swiftly deployed intelligence and tactical teams after the incident, leading to sustained surveillance on the gang and mounting pressure on its…

The Vice-Presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has threatened to institute a N10bn defamation suit against the founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Elijah Ayodele, over alleged remarks linking him to a plot to betray the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi. Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, issued the threat through his legal representatives, Magaji Mato Ibrahim (SAN) & Co., in a letter demanding an immediate retraction and public apology from the cleric within 24 hours. The lawyers described the alleged comments as “false, malicious and defamatory,” accusing Ayodele of portraying their client as politically…

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has uncovered a large-scale clandestine methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a forest in Oyo State, seizing massive quantities of illicit substances, precursor chemicals and industrial processing equipment valued at billions of naira. The agency said the operation, carried out by officers of its Oyo State Command, led to the recovery of a significant volume of a whitish crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine, alongside four 180-litre drums containing dark liquid undergoing chemical synthesis. Other items recovered from the site include 101 bags of 25kg each of caustic soda; 17 containers of 25 litres each of…

The trial of former Abdullahi Ganduje and his wife, Hafsat Umar, over alleged misappropriation of public funds running into billions of naira was on Wednesday stalled following an adjournment by a State High Court sitting in Kano. The presiding judge, Justice Amina Adamu-Aliyu, adjourned the matter until October 14, 2026, for the hearing of a preliminary objection filed by one of the defendants. Ganduje, alongside seven others, is facing an 11-count charge bordering on bribery, conspiracy, misappropriation, and diversion of public funds. Other defendants in the suit include Abubakar Bawuro, Abdullahi Umar, Jibrilla Muhammad, as well as three firms—Lamash Properties…

The Friends of Kitan Oyesiku have called on the Ogun State Government and security agencies to intensify efforts to unravel the circumstances surrounding the killing of their associate, describing her death as “cruel and senseless.” In a statement issued on Wednesday by Oluwaseun Boye on behalf of the group, the friends said the deceased, Kitan Oyesiku, was a “peaceful, kind-hearted and compassionate woman” whose life was cut short unjustly. The group urged the Ogun State Police Command to sustain the ongoing investigation and ensure that all those connected to the killing are identified, arrested and prosecuted. They commended the Commissioner…

The political configuration of the Edo State House of Assembly shifted on Tuesday as three lawmakers defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), effectively positioning the party as the main opposition in the legislature. The development was contained in a letter transmitted to the House by the Edo State Chairman of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Engr. Babatunde Olukoga, who formally notified the Assembly of the lawmakers’ defection and sought official recognition of their new party status. The affected legislators are Hon. Charity Iguodala Aiguobarhueghian (Ovia North-East I), Hon.…