Author: Platform Times Newspaper

Four security operatives, including two soldiers and two members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, have been killed in a fresh ambush by terrorists in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State. The Nigerian Army confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Lt. Col. Appolonia Anele. Anele said troops of the 25 Task Force Brigade were returning from a routine patrol around Wajiroko in Azir Multe when insurgents opened heavy fire on their convoy near the fringes of the Sambisa Forest. The patrol team, led by the Commander of the 25 Brigade,…

Lawmakers in the Benin Republic have approved a major constitutional amendment extending the presidential tenure from five to seven years, a move coming barely months before the country’s next general election scheduled for 2026. The amendment, passed late Friday by an overwhelming 90 to 19 votes, also restricts presidents to serving a maximum of two terms in their lifetime. The National Assembly, in a statement released on Saturday, said the revised Article 42 now provides that the president “is elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of seven years, renewable only once.” The extension also applies to mayors and…

A United States federal court has sentenced a 27-year-old Nigerian, Imoleayo Samuel Aina, to 72 months in prison for his role in a sexual extortion scheme that resulted in the death of an American teenager. Judge Joel Slomsky of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania handed down the sentence on October 28, ordering Aina to serve six years imprisonment, five years of supervised release, and pay $3,250 restitution. Aina was convicted on multiple charges, including cyberstalking, interstate threats to injure reputation, receiving proceeds of extortion, money laundering conspiracy, and wire fraud. He pleaded guilty in May.…

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday expelled the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, its suspended National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, and former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, in a sweeping disciplinary action that further exposed deep cracks within the opposition party. The expulsions were ratified at the party’s national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, amid longstanding power tussles between rival factions. Also expelled were top party figures including Umar Bature, Ajibade Kamarudeen, Mao Ohabunwa, Uwachukwu, George Turner, Dan Orbih, Mohammed Abdulrahman, Austin Nwachukwu, and Abraham Amah. The motion for the expulsion was moved by former National…

Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have arrested a suspected major drug courier alleged to be supplying hard drugs to Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters across the North-East. The suspect, 45-year-old Zubairu Muhammad, was apprehended at about 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday by soldiers of the 232 Battalion (Tactical), Uba, in Adamawa State. Military sources  said that Muhammad had long been on the radar of security agencies for allegedly running a drug distribution network that serviced terrorists operating through the Askira-Uba, Chibok, Michika and Damboa corridors. During the arrest, troops reportedly recovered 14 blocks of cannabis sativa…

President Bola Tinubu has renewed the appointment of Brigadier-General (rtd) Mohammed Buba Marwa as Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for another five-year term, extending his leadership until 2031. Marwa, an Adamawa State indigene, first assumed the position in January 2021 under former President Muhammadu Buhari. Prior to that, he served as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse between 2018 and 2020. The reappointment, announced on Thursday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, comes as a vote of confidence in Marwa’s leadership and the agency’s achievements…

The Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria (PBAN) has raised fresh concerns over the collapse of Nigeria’s bakery industry, revealing that more than 60,000 bakeries have shut down in the last four years due to escalating production costs, harsh loans, and worsening insecurity. PBAN President, Engr. Onuorah Emmanuel, disclosed this in Lagos during the 2025 PBAN Day Out with the theme “The Business of Baking: Pathways to Profit, Productivity and Growth.” He warned that Nigeria risks deeper food inflation and job losses if the government fails to urgently stabilise the business environment. According to him, the industry has shrunk drastically from…

The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, on Friday vowed that the Nigerian Air Force would intensify strikes against insurgents, terrorists and bandits threatening the security and sovereignty of the country. Aneke issued the warning during an operational visit to the Air Component of Operation FANSAN YAMMA (OPFY) Sector II at the 213 Forward Operating Base, Katsina State. The visit was disclosed in a statement signed by the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame. Aneke said the Air Force would not back down until all violent groups undermining Nigeria’s peace were neutralised.…

The Peoples Democratic Party has declared that its national convention scheduled for Saturday in Ibadan will proceed as planned, insisting that the exercise is “sacrosanct” despite a subsisting court order seeking to halt it. Chairman of the 2025 National Convention Organising Committee and Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, made the declaration on Friday after a high-level stakeholders’ meeting held at the Bauchi Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja. Fintiri, who briefed journalists at the end of the meeting, said the party had resolved to go ahead with preparations, stressing that no legal distractions would stop the convention. “We’ve just come out…

The Nigerian Red Cross Society has raised a fresh alarm that no fewer than 33 million Nigerians may be pushed into acute hunger and malnutrition in 2026 unless urgent interventions are implemented. Secretary-General of the organisation, Dr. Abubakar Kende, issued the warning on Friday in Abuja during the unveiling of the Red Cross Nutrition Advocacy Plan, a new framework aimed at intensifying national efforts against food insecurity. Kende said worsening economic hardship, climate-induced food shortages, and rising insecurity across food-producing regions were deepening the risk of hunger for millions. He stressed that coordinated action from government, humanitarian agencies and private-sector…