Author: Platform Times Newspaper

 Daud Olatunji The Benue State Police Command has arrested five Pakistani nationals in separate intelligence-led operations in Otukpo and Ugbokolo, recovering 35 mobile phones in the process. The command said the arrests, carried out on August 4 and 5, 2026, followed intelligence reports concerning the activities and movements of the suspects in parts of the state. Three of the suspects—Younas Mohammad, 36; Ahmad Nunil, 38; and Aslam Muhammad, 46—were arrested on August 4 at Adoka Motor Park in Otukpo Local Government Area while allegedly attempting to board a vehicle heading to Adoka village. The command’s spokesperson, DSP Orchia Peter Aondongu,…

The Accord Party has demanded the immediate resignation of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, over the commission’s decision to freeze the bank accounts of the Osun State Government. The party also urged President Bola Tinubu to remove Olukoyede if the EFCC chairman refuses to resign, accusing the anti-graft agency of exceeding its statutory powers and violating constitutional provisions. The National Chairman of the party, Maxwell Mgbudem, made the demand on Friday at a press conference in Abuja. Mgbudem said the EFCC’s action had undermined public confidence in the commission and embarrassed the Federal Government,…

The Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, has assured the people of Osun State that the Nigeria Police Force will remain professional, neutral and impartial before, during and after the August 15 governorship election. Disu said the police had no preferred candidate, political party or vested interest in the outcome of the election, stressing that its only responsibility was to protect the democratic choice of the electorate. The IGP spoke on Friday in Abuja when a coalition of civil society organisations led by the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, paid him a courtesy visit to…

A Kano Magistrates’ Court has ordered the remand of a 25-year-old woman, Maimuna Idris, over the alleged severing of her boyfriend’s manhood with a knife. Idris, who is from Maigatari Local Government Area of Jigawa State, is facing two charges bordering on attempted culpable homicide and causing grievous hurt. The court, presided over by Magistrate Sadiya Usman, ordered that the defendant be remanded in a correctional centre pending further proceedings. The prosecution counsel, H.A. Sani-Buhari, told the court that the alleged incident occurred on July 27 at Badawa Quarters in Kano. According to the prosecution, the victim, identified as Ashiru…

Daud Olatunji Tension reportedly heightened in Ibodi, Atakunmosa West Local Government Area of Osun State, on Tuesday when council chairmen from the Ijesa South Federal Constituency and military personnel had a confrontation during an enforcement operation against alleged illegal mining activities. The confrontation occurred as the council chairmen, accompanied by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Nigeria Police Force, moved to mining communities following complaints from residents over alleged environmental degradation, destruction of farmlands and security concerns associated with mining activities. The council chairmen alleged that military personnel at one of the mining sites prevented…

Daud Olatunji A civil society organisation, the Centre for Human Rights and Accountability Network, has demanded full disclosure of how more than ₦60bn allocated to oil-producing communities in Akwa Ibom State has been managed since the inauguration of the Host Community Development Trust in 2024. The group also threatened to deploy legal measures against trustees who fail to account for projects and other interventions funded from the oil host community development allocations. The demand followed a verification exercise conducted by CHRAN into the activities of the EMOIMEE Host Community Development Trust, which covers seven oil and gas-producing local government areas…

Daud Olatunji The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested a self-styled spiritualist, Odigie Moses, in Ekpoma, Edo State, over alleged sextortion and blackmail involving an Indian woman. The suspect was accused of allegedly luring the woman into a nude online “spiritual cleansing” session, secretly recording the session and later demanding money from her under threat of releasing the video publicly. The EFCC, in a statement on Friday, said its investigation followed a complaint involving the alleged online blackmail of the overseas victim. According to the commission, Moses allegedly presented himself on the social media platform Zelle as a spiritual…

Daud Olatunji At least 21 per cent of Nigerian women aged between 15 and 49 have experienced physical or sexual violence, while more than half of survivors do not report the abuse or seek help, stakeholders have disclosed. The alarming figures were revealed on Friday in Abuja during the launch of the Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Media Corps, an initiative of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons in collaboration with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. The programme is supported by the European Union through its End Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Programme. The stakeholders…

Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has alerted security agencies to what he described as a suspicious payment made into his private bank account by an individual or entity he said he does not know. Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday, saying the transaction carried the narration, “Contribution Electioneering Campaign.” According to Shaibu, neither Atiku nor his campaign organisation solicited, authorised or had prior knowledge of the payment. He said the account into which the money was paid was a strictly private account and its…

A rescued abductee from Woro community in Kwara State, Fatima Mohammed, has recounted the harrowing conditions she and other victims endured during more than six months in terrorist captivity. Mohammed, one of the abductees recently rescued from the terrorists, said the captives were forced to sleep in the open, endured hunger and had no spare clothes throughout their ordeal. She said whenever rain soaked their clothes, the victims had no option but to remain in them until their bodies dried the clothes. “There were no rooms to sleep in. We slept in the open, even when it was raining. “We…